Friday, March 29, 2024

City of Victoria and BC Government sign deal to enforce the closing of encampments

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The Province and the City of Victoria have begun working together to end current homeless encampments and prevent future encampments.

A statement today affirmed the city and Province’s commitment with a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The MOU clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the province and city in securing accommodation for people currently living outside to decamp parks and other public spaces by April 30th.

As part of the MOU, the city will take the lead on managing sites when encampments are dismantled.

This includes installing fencing and providing bylaw enforcement to prevent people from moving back into parks.

“We’ve gotten to the beginning of the end of this crisis by working constructively with Victoria on really difficult issues,” said David Eby, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing.

The goal to move all unsheltered people living in parks into housing was originally intended to begin by the end of March.


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Earlier this month, the BC Government announced it had secured two locations in partnership with the City of Victoria and BC Housing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many shelters to operate at a reduced capacity.

“When shelters had to close beds due to the pandemic, people were forced to seek shelter wherever they could find it, including our parks,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

“We’re grateful for the Province’s leadership, for the tremendous investments we’ve been seeing in housing for our region, and we are committed to doing all we can to support efforts to house people who are vulnerable.”

Last week, Victoria city council voted in favour to end daytime camping in parks on May 1st, as more people are moved into new indoor shelters.

The bylaw will return to pre-COVID guidelines, which allows campers to stay at select parks from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day.

When the pandemic was declared last year, the city amended the parks regulation bylaw to allow people experiencing homelessness to remain in parks 24 hours a day.

In addition, the city also plans to amend the parks bylaw for Cecelia Ravine Park, Centennial Square, and Central Park, to prohibit camping at all times, including overnight.

The City of Victoria says the process of helping people move inside is actively underway. So far, since the beginning of March, 116 people have moved inside from parks and other outdoor areas.

The MOU also outlines commitments to help prevent future encampments in Victoria by working with other partners to develop temporary and permanent housing options to meet community needs.

The locations of the buildings will be released at a later date.

“Although we had hoped to secure additional buildings that were ready to go for housing, and BC Housing chased down several leads, we didn’t get lucky,” said David Eby, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing.

“We’ll need the extra weeks to prepare the two new secured sites for use as shelter before moving folks inside.”

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