Halifax homeless encampment near new seniors' facility ordered to close
The municipality has closed the designated encampment in the small green space that runs along Windsor Street near Quinpool Road, giving the roughly nine people living there about a month to leave.
Halifax said the site must be cleared out because it's too close to a new seniors' facility that has opened.
"It's a pretty lousy thing to do, actually. They've got nowhere to put us," said Falshaw, who added he is dealing with cancer and other health conditions.
The site was designated in July 2024 as a homeless encampment managed by the city with portable toilets and garbage pickup. It had an original capacity of eight tents, but that grew to about 16 tents at some points.
Max Chauvin, Halifax's director of housing and homelessness, said municipal policy states that designated encampments cannot be within 50 metres of the entrance to a seniors' care facility. He said the new Shannex building, called Parkland on the Common, has a door that is about 20 metres from the site.
Chauvin said outreach workers will now meet with everyone at Cogswell Park to find them a place to go next, and help them move if needed. He said there are open spaces in multiple indoor shelters, or temporary housing options run by the province.
"People do have some choice, which is something that didn't happen in some previous incidences — the options were more limited," Chauvin said Wednesday.
Falshaw said he's been sleeping rough for the past three years and has tried a few of the temporary housing options, but they were not a good fit and he was usually asked to leave.
Resorting to living in a public park in a rich country like Canada "is an absolute heartbreaking shame," he said.
"Why are we even outside? Why do we even have to do this?" said Falshaw, who doesn't know where he'll go next.
Virginia Hinch, councillor for the area, had asked for staff to explore the process of closing the Cogswell Park site in early July following ongoing safety concerns from nearby residents.
Karla Nicholson, executive director of Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association, said residents and businesses have told her about an increase in thefts since the site was designated. She said there have been reports of fires and violence at the site.
"I think the residents have suffered enough in this area, and it is very close proximity to their homes," Nicholson said Wednesday.
While the site was officially designated last year, Nicholson said people have sheltered in tents there since about 2020.
The Quinpool business association has put "a lot of work" into the park, including new lights and a raised wooden boardwalk, said Nicholson.
"We're hoping to take back the park, and make it a place where everyone can enjoy," she said.
The three remaining designated encampment sites around Halifax and Dartmouth are over capacity, but Chauvin said there are a few spots at those sites where people could fit tents if necessary.
"Considering the breadth of options and the different supports that are available … I'm really hoping that everybody can find an indoor option," Chauvin said.
Chauvin said there are fewer than 100 people sleeping rough in Halifax. The city counted about 75 tents and four trailers in the municipality's designated locations as of last week.
The by-name list tracking people dealing with homelessness in Halifax showed 972 people or families in need of housing as of Aug. 13.
The list, maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, said 642 of those people were experiencing "chronic" homelessness.
That term refers to people seeing persistent or long-term homelessness, which brings "greater risks of harm and difficulty accessing stable housing" according to the federal government.
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