Shelter spaces, new tent distancing rules feature in Hamilton’s encampment update

The City of Hamilton will explore the possibility of adding beds to its shelter system and expand minimum distancing rules for tents in an effort to shrink challenges tied to encampments across the municipality.

Following an outpouring of frustration from about a dozen delegates at city hall Wednesday over how the city is managing homelessness, a general issues committee approved a fact-finding effort to see what it will take to add just over 200 shelter spaces.

Healthy and Safe Communities general manager Grace Mater said the ask is in response to “underfunding of that system” which regularly sees an “influx of people coming and going” among a transient population.

“We know that shelters are not the answer to homelessness, but rather just one tool to help mitigate our current encampment crisis,” Mater told councillors.

The city has some 345 permanent and 20 temporary shelter beds as of the end of May. Additionally, there are 52 hotels rooms, equating to 208 beds, currently used as overflow.

Shelter capacity levels are hovering around 110 per cent daily and staff will now be deployed to pin down costs associated with adding spaces for 110 men, 50 women, and 55 couples.

It also includes a mandate to make 25 per cent of all the city’s spaces pet-friendly.

During check-ins with those living unsheltered, city outreach workers estimate about a quarter of the people they encounter have pets.

“It’s one of the main challenges … getting people to agree to move into shelter spaces if they are available,” said Danielle Blake, manager of the city’s Housing Focused Street Outreach.

“People want to stay with their pets and they want to stay with their partners, which are both very valid concerns that people have.”

As of the end of May, the city estimates 219 people were living in encampments across some 70 sites.

In comparison, the annual average for 2023 was around 204 per month.

Blake said the year-over-year increase is a “general trend” and represents the highest number the city has ever seen.

“Hamilton has always been, and continues to be, a health care hub and a community that has a detention centre and we see people coming out of those institutions,” she submitted.

“Maybe they’ve come to those institutions from other areas, they get released from those institutions, and there’s not always a sufficient discharge plan for those individuals.

The lastest update from the housing division did have some good news revealing long-term investments into ending homelessness had affected the city’s vacancy rate moving it from nine per cent last year to 5.5 per cent in April.

“We’re seeing a reduction in the length of overflow hotel stays for families based on investments that this council has made into case management for outflow from shelters,” Blake said.

Staff have a target of a two per cent vacancy rate by the end of 2024.

May estimates suggest there are roughly 1,592 people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton.

Committee members also voted to update distance rules between tents and “sensitive use” areas like funeral homes and long-term care homes due to public concerns.

Blake said that city staffers receive “hundreds of emails weekly” from residents expressing various issues tied to encampments and that distance adjustments are in answer to “constant communications” from residents around the subject.

In order to alleviate some reported public safety concerns, encampments can no longer be within 100 metres of a funeral home, long term care residence and areas programmed for children.

Additionally, distances from, sidewalks, paths and walkways will now be five metres all year and not just in the winter.

A 25-metre distance is required from active construction sites.

Currently the city allows for clusters of up to five tents on city land.

The city will also provide more funding for encampment management for the remainder of the year, including adding to its housing-focus outreach team.

Two paramedics, a program coordinator, and an analyst are expected to be brought on to ease burdens with the city’s Social Navigator Program, a combined paramedic and police response providing short-term case management and connection to supports.

Mater suggested the additions will allow for improved coordination with the two officers currently on the outreach team, alleviating “demand on their time” when accompanying staff visiting “high risk” areas near encampments.

“Some of the things we’ve learned is about tweaking some of those responses to prioritizing … to try and help and release some of that time and demand on the officers,” Mater explained.

During the committee meeting, a pair of Hamilton police representatives painted a picture of daily challenges outreach teams have when visiting encampments.

Staff Sgt. Dave McKenzie, who leads the engagement team, said most of the team’s work is spent on “geographical and numerical compliance,” which involves measuring distances between tents and counting how many tents are in an encampment.

He explained that non-compliance or criminality in encampments reported by the public are typically directly addressed by officers in one of the three city divisions.

“The citizens are there 24/7 and our officers are not,” McKenzie said.

“So we try to spread the wealth around the city using the divisional assets, and share information through … the divisions.”

All updates made to the city’s encampment protocol Wednesday still need to be ratified by city council.