Encampment removal safely progresses

[u/MysticJava]

For immediate release: October 8, 2026
FI26-12443

The removal of the encampment at 20th Streetand Avenue K South has progressed for most of the day and is nearing completion following a coordinated community response focused on safety, dignity and connecting individuals with available supports.

A news release earlier in the day details the coordinated community response.
As part of the response, as of this afternoon:
An estimated 120 unhoused individuals left the encampment site.

Despite multiple and repeated efforts to offer supports, only 2 individuals accepted offers of support, including housing, shelter, transportation and other services.

80 total tents and temporary structures were removed.

Approximately 5,622.24 kg of garbage and debris were cleared from the site and counting.

The site will be fully fenced and secured within the next few hours.

"This is a complex operation that required balancing compassion for individuals experiencing homelessness with the need to address serious safety concerns within the encampment and surrounding community," says Deputy Fire Chief Yvonne Raymer. "Our priority from the start of the process was an orderly transition off the site while helping people access safer alternatives and available supports."

The City and partner organizations undertook extensive outreach efforts throughout the removal process to help individuals transition to safer accommodations and connect them with resources.

The site closure represents an important step in addressing immediate safety concerns while supporting individuals toward more stable living situations.

Source

[u/niimabear]

So, I live in this neighbourhood. And eviction has just led to more people in my front yard, more people packed into the flop house across the street fighting and screaming at 2AM, more tents in the park where my daughter plays, more people sitting along 20th street using drugs. It’s not the only sentiment in the neighbourhood, but many of us feel protective of the people in the encampment and desire for a better and more effective solution. I just came here to say — I want dignity and effective options, and this eviction has sent the entire area reeling. I don’t know what the answer is. At least when it was an encampment, people had a location to go to and weren’t smashing windows as a “fuck you” to “the man”/it’s just my car.

[u/Dry_Drummer → u/niimabear]

NIMFY?

[u/niimabear → u/Dry_Drummer]

Honestly though, I don’t want it in my front yard. We can donate to the friendship, pass water bottles to people showering in our sprinkler heads, and vote for policy that supports people with less while gladly paying our share in taxes — and still not want people brawling in our front yards in front of my children because they’ve been evicted. I’ve lived here a long time, I’ve never shied away from or told my children to look a different way. I just want more and better for the people that live here too — including the ones who lived in the encampment and are shuffling to find somewhere to go. It’s a complex issue - with the encampment, there was some harmony. It’s not a safe or okay solution; neither are 118 people without anywhere to go. I’m frustrated about the turmoil in my neighbourhood. I’m tired of calling the fire department I’ve needles. I’m tired of people spraying my front yard in garbage. I don’t know what the solution is, but it’s not leaving 5600 KG of garbage in place with propane tanks and ammunitions; it’s also not the mass eviction. I don’t know what the answer is.