City of Thunder Bay seeks feedback on designated encampment sites

The City of Thunder Bay is seeking public feedback on potential locations for designated encampments.

A survey is currently available on the city's Get Involved website, asking for feedback on six potential designated encampment sites in the city. A report with recommendations is scheduled to be presented to city council on March 31, and no decisions have yet been made.

"Encampment sites will be areas in the city that people who are living in encampments know that they are authorized to be in," said Rilee Willianen, the city's supervisor of encampment response. "They'll also provide basic services such as portable toilets, potable water, outreach coordination, and just help to coordinate and centralize the services that are going to be available, or that can be provided by others, to really help encampment residents move forward in their lives and hopefully get out of encampments."

The six locations are:

Willianen said the six potential sites were chosen based on a number of criteria.

"There was first the distance guidelines, and that put distances in between where encampments are and certain sensitive use kind of areas," she said. "For example, playgrounds, schools, areas like that."

"Then on top of that, more recently, council approved the guiding criteria," Willianen said. "The guiding criteria add extra considerations to the mix, to the evaluation, to identify site suitability because distance alone doesn't assess with things like if there's roadway access."

In addition, Willianen said, the city is selecting sites that have historically had encampment activity.

She said up to three sites will be selected, and none of them will have an operator on-site.

The city's shelter village, which is currently under construction at the end of Alloy Place and will include 80 sleeping cabins, will have an operator on site.

But the village itself won't have enough space for the city's entire unhoused population, Willianen said.

"We also, in the summer and spring time, have a reduced shelter capacity," she said. "There's a loss of indoor shelter space, because the overflow and Out of the Cold programs closed."

"There's more people outdoors in those months as well," Willianen said. "There will still be people who need to live in encampments, and so to have the designated sites, it helps to do that better management of of public space."

The city is also seeking feedback on a new Use of Public Spaces bylaw.