Encampments

About encampments

We use the term “encampments” to refer to temporary outdoor campsites on public property or privately owned land. These informal settlements result from a lack of accessible, affordable housing.

People living in encampments are in some of the most vulnerable circumstances in our society. Many are dealing with the combined effects of the housing crisis, the health crisis brought on by the pandemic, and a severe economic downturn. They have often faced discrimination linked to the historical legacy of colonialism, racism, sexism, ableism, and other forms of marginalization.

Residents of encampments frequently experience harassment and violence from police, bylaw officers, and the public. Most do not have access to basic services like clean water or heat. Some have suffered harm or have died as a result of exposure, fire, overdose, and other threats to life and safety.

These conditions are an assault on their human dignity and amount to violations of the human right to housing.

Addressing the encampments crisis

Canada's homeless encampments are a national human rights crisis.

The Federal Housing Advocate launched a systemic review of encampments in February 2023 – the first Advocate-led review of a systemic housing issue. This systemic review has been carried out pursuant to subsection 13.1(1) of the National Housing Strategy Act. Its goal was to understand the experiences of encampment residents across the country and explore potential solutions.

The Advocate released an interim report in October 2023, and a final report in February 2024. The interim report summarized the experiences and information shared with the Advocate during an engagement process that involved in-person meetings with encampment residents across the country, and 366 submissions received from individuals and organizations between April and July 2023. The final report focused on the Advocate's recommendations to start to solve this crisis.

Listening to residents of encampments

In October 2023, the Advocate published an interim report setting out the context of the crisis and documenting in detail what had been heard through the engagement process. The engagement process consulted directly with people living in encampments, local community advocates, Indigenous governments and representative organizations, and duty-bearers across all governments.

The Advocate heard that there is an urgent need for solutions designed and implemented using a human rights-based approach that upholds the human rights and dignity of encampment residents while simultaneously addressing the systemic failures that are contributing to the situation. People also said many times that there is a need to change the conversation about encampments and to recognize that encampments are a symptom of systemic failures and not the fault of individuals.

One of the biggest challenges in addressing the issue of encampments is that governments have taken a top-down approach that does not include the perspectives, or respect the agency, of diverse encampment residents. To address this, the Advocate heard many potential solutions directly from the people who have experienced living in encampments. In considering these solutions, the complexity of the issues will require a whole-of-government approach. For example, municipalities are the first line of response to encampments, but are often not empowered and generally not adequately resourced to meet the complex housing and public health crises growing in their communities.

The interim report was the foundation for a deeper reflection and engagement with rights holders, allies, Indigenous governments and representative organizations as well as provincial, territorial, municipal and federal governments. These discussions helped to inform the findings and recommendations in the Advocate's final report.

Advocating for the rights of encampment residents

In February 2024, The Advocate released her final report on encampments that called for a national response to the human rights crisis facing people living in encampments.

The report examined the factors leading to the rise in encampments across Canada, and most importantly, recommends the concrete measures that must be taken by all governments to fulfill their human rights responsibilities to reduce or eliminate the need for encampments.

What has emerged is a clear picture of a two-fold human rights crisis.

First, encampment residents are at dire risk of harm due to the failure to uphold their basic rights.

Second, the encampments exist only because of a larger, systemic failure to uphold the right of all people to adequate housing without discrimination.

The Advocate's final report issued an urgent call to action to governments at all levels to uphold the human rights and right to housing of encampment residents.

The Advocate's Calls to Action

In response to the urgency of the crisis – including the life and death risks faced by the growing number of people now living in encampments – the Federal Housing Advocate's final report includes a series of Calls to Action addressed to all governments in Canada.

These Calls to Action provide a high-level road map to guide the actions needed to respond to homeless encampments in compliance with Canada's human rights obligations, including those affirmed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Constitution, the National Housing Strategy Act, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Advocate recommended that the federal government:

1. Lead the development of a human rights-based National Encampments Response Plan in cooperation and consultation with all other governments.

   Immediately convene meetings with provinces, territories, and municipalities to coordinate an all-of-government response. Include clear targets and timelines for the National Encampments Response Plan. 
   The Plan should also provide support to municipalities on the front lines of this crisis.

2. Commit to a human rights-based approach to address the needs of encampment residents.

   People living in encampments must play a leading role in decision-making processes that affect them. All governments must implement ongoing and meaningful engagement with people living in encampments and those who support them.

3. Respect the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples, including those affirmed in UNDRIP.

   Recognize the jurisdiction of Indigenous governments to determine, develop, and administer programs and services related to housing and homelessness. First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments and representative organizations must be fully supported to develop and provide self-determined, culturally appropriate housing and related services and supports, including supports in urban centers.

4. Take immediate action to protect the right to life and dignity of all people living in encampments, reduce the risks that they face, and help them to stabilize their situation.

   Including by ensuring that people living in encampments have access to the basic necessities they need to survive and live in dignity. This includes access to clean water, sanitation, food, heating and cooling, accessibility supports, healthcare, and harm reduction.
   It also means ending forced evictions of encampments and putting in place alternatives that are designed following meaningful engagement with encampment residents.
   Forced encampment evictions make people more unsafe and expose them to a greater risk of harm and violence. The role of police and by-law officers should be de-emphasized in responses to encampments.

5. Implement immediate measures to address the root causes of encampments and provide access to adequate housing.

   Immediately develop and fund adequate housing solutions and supports so that people living in encampments can be re-housed as rapidly as possible.

6. Ensure government accountability and that people experiencing homelessness have access to justice.

   For more information about these calls to action or to consult the detailed recommendations, please download the final report.

For more information about these calls to action or to consult the detailed recommendations, please download the final report.

The recommendations are also available as a Fact sheet for provinces and territories or a Fact sheet for municipalities.

Research on encampments

To better understand this key issue, the Office of the Federal Housing Advocate led a research project to provide critical information on the issue of encampments in five regions of Canada.

The reports confirm that a punitive approach to encampments is failing. Tearing down encampments is unsafe and can amount to forced eviction, which is a serious violation of human rights. The researchers note that this approach does not address the underlying conditions that have led to the growth of encampments in the first place, and it does not respect the rights or increase the safety or housing security of encampment residents. Critically, a punitive approach also removes choice from encampment residents and destroys the mutual aid and community connections they have built to care for one another within a broken system. Governments and decision-makers at all levels must centre human rights and the right to housing in their approaches to encampments. The reports recommend five key areas where Canada must do better to uphold the rights of encampment residents:

1. Stop the use of policing and law enforcement as a response to encampments.
2. Provide funding and services at all levels of government – to support municipalities that are facing the disproportionate impact of addressing the existence of encampments, and to invest in short and long-term housing options and supports for encampment residents.
3. Ensure the meaningful participation of encampment residents in decisions that affect them.
4. Recognize the distinct rights of Indigenous Peoples and include them in the development of policy approaches to encampments.
5. Address the conditions within encampments and provide access to basic services such as clean water, sanitation facilities, electricity and heat.

This in-depth look at encampments will help the Advocate and decision-makers across Canada take action to better support encampment residents and uphold their fundamental human rights and human right to housing.