Encampment numbers down since ban

The City of Winnipeg has identified 120 people living in 62 encampments — a far cry from the 700 people in roughly 100 camps last August, before the municipal government’s clampdown on such sites began in late 2025.

The figures were discussed during Tuesday’s community services committee meeting in which city officials provided a ward-by-ward breakdown of encampments.

Data collected by Main Street Project through outreach work and point-in-time counts shows Point Douglas has the highest number at 19 sites, followed by Fort Rouge–Fort Garry with 15 camps.

Chris Brens, the city’s community development manager, said the 62 encampments do not include people who stay in bus shelters, vehicles or other spaces. He told the committee MSP had identified 128 people in encampments, including 63 in Point Douglas and 30 in Fort Rouge–Fort Garry, as of May 31.

Brens noted the figure includes people MSP met directly and does not account for individuals who were absent from the camps when outreach workers stopped by.

“MSP estimates there could be an additional 60 people across all encampments,” Brens said. “They’re also seeing an increase in the number of people not living in encampments but living unsheltered in the city — doorways, heating vents. They’re seeing a sharp increase in those areas. They estimated ranging from 100 to 200.”

City officials were unable to provide a breakdown of how many sites fall within each of the three risk categories: Level 1 sites are considered the highest priority for intervention and Level 3 sites pose the lowest risk.

Greg MacPherson, the city’s senior co-ordinator of community development, said the arrival of warmer weather makes it difficult to determine the full scope of the situation and assess the impact of the encampment ban.

“It’s going to take a little bit of time to get a better sense of the reality,” MacPherson said.

Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project, said several factors may have kept encampment numbers low. Among them is the continued operation of Siloam Mission’s overnight shelter, which helps an average of 250 people each night. The overnight shelter has remained open since last month, when the province closed a shelter on Disraeli Freeway.

“The other thing is we’re seeing people not going to encampments, but just sleeping on sidewalks or back lanes, places that wouldn’t be considered an encampment,” he said.

He also pointed to the province’s Your Way Home strategy, which has helped more than 200 people secure and maintain housing since January 2025, calling it “something to be celebrated.”

The committee was told 108 encampments have been cleared, including 28 in Fort Rouge–Fort Garry, 17 in St. James and 13 in St. Boniface, since Winnipeg’s encampment enforcement bylaw took effect last November. It restricts encampments near a range of locations, including parks, schools, daycares, recreation centres and seniors housing.

Brens said encampments can be identified and ultimately cleared through a variety of channels, including 311 complaints, inspections by bylaw officers, visits by police or Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service personnel or when individuals choose to leave on their own.

“We would only clean a site once it has been confirmed vacated by outreach service providers,” Brens said.

City and provincial staff are compiling data about how many people from the 108 cleared camps had secured housing or moved to a shelter.

Coun. Vivian Santos, who chairs the committee and represents Point Douglas, asked the public service to provide more detailed information about where people went after leaving encampments.

Since the bylaw came into force, the city has conducted 130 inspections and posted 165 signs notifying people that camping is prohibited in those areas.

Resource Assistance for Youth, Inc. recently produced a map that suggests there are few areas where camps are permitted because of all of the restrictions.

Kate Kehler, executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg, told the committee Tuesday the bylaw has largely pushed the homeless further to the margins of society.

“Mayor and council were told the bylaw would make conditions worse for Winnipeg’s unsheltered community,” Kehler told the committee.

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“I’m asking you to pause,” she said, suggesting a third party look at the ban. “If we could give a (thorough) review to what this encampment policy is doing, then we would have better information to hopefully create better solutions to the issue.”

Kehler said an evaluation should include input from service providers and people who live in encampments.

She also argued that some individuals have been moved into unsuitable housing situations without adequate supports.

“It destabilized everyone,” she said, adding that people who moved in to a shelter don’t always stay there.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.