At least half of Toronto encampment residents return to Clarence Square after city clearing

At least half of the residents living at a small park in downtown Toronto returned just hours after the city partially cleared their encampment on Sunday.

The city confirmed to CTV News Toronto on Monday that approximately five new tents appeared overnight at Clarence Square, near Wellington Street and Spadina Avenue.

This update illustrates a swift reversal after the city said eight of the park’s 10 structures were removed on Sunday. At that time, city officials said two people accepted spaces at a shelter hotel, one person returned to housing and another remained at the park.

Around 11 p.m. Doug Johnson Hatlem, a street pastor at Sanctuary Toronto, said he saw about half a dozen tents back up at Clarence Square.

“That’s how these stories go,” he said. “The answer to homelessness is not policing or hiding the problem or insisting that shelters are the answer, even though they are clearly not. The answer is what works for people.”

Johnson Hatlem said he anticipated the return of residents and he expects Toronto police officers will come back for another round of clearing too.

“I think they are in a position this morning where they see that what they did didn't work yesterday and they are determined to win at all costs,” he said.

The city did not respond to CTV News Toronto’s query about whether another encampment clearing will take place. Instead, they said outreach workers will visit the site on Monday to determine occupants' needs.

They also reiterated a response released a day earlier, which states their commitment to a “housing first approach” to encampment outreach.

“From January 2022 to Saturday, June 11, Streets to Homes has engaged at Clarence Square 152 times and has referred 17 clients from the site to indoor accommodation,” the city said in a statement.

Devin, a long-time resident of the park, expressed anger on Sunday in response to the city's approach. “If you break up this encampment, it’s another park, if it’s not another park it’s under the Gardiner, if it’s not under the Gardiner, then what?" he asked. "I’m angry as anyone would be if someone came to your place and torched your home.” 

Another individual, who identified himself as Dreddz to CTV News Toronto on Sunday, said he didn't want to return to a shelter. He pointed to the two women he was camping with who were forced to leave the encampment abruptly with no information from the city on where they were going.

“They said where is this hotel? They didn’t have any answers for them, it was just get in the cab and go,” he said.

Johnson Hatlem called this technique of not giving residents information on how far from their community and supports they would be relocated a “vicious and coercive” way to get people into a shelter hotel.

“They wanted a fast and simple solution,” he said. “It’s not really addressing the issues in a systemic root kind of way.”