Tensions mount over proposed temporary village in Thunder Bay, Ont., ahead of council vote

As city council prepares to vote on a temporary shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, Ont., opposition is growing among the area's business community.

The city is recommending council vote in favour of a site at 114 Miles St. E. for the project, which would include up to 80 temporary units in what's been described as a sleeping cabin model.

The village is intended as a stop-gap measure to help people transition from emergency shelters and encampments into long-term housing, explained Rilee Willianen, the city's drug strategy specialist and encampment response plan lead, during a press conference Friday.

Other communities in Ontario have seen success with this model, including Kitchener's A Better Tent City and Peterborough's Modular Bridge Housing Community. In Vancouver, there's also a similar concept known as modular supportive housing.

At least 550 people are experiencing homelessness in Thunder Bay, according to a 24-hour point-in-time count of the city's unhoused population last month.

"We absolutely agree that housing for all, long-term solutions are the ultimate goal, the ultimate solution. We also know that we have an immediate crisis at hand, and that immediate crisis requires a different response," Willianen said.

"Those responses to the long-term housing solutions and the encampment solutions are not mutually exclusive. They exist together as a system, and this is just one part of getting us towards getting people into that long-term stable housing."

The city has earmarked construction and infrastructure costs at $5 million for the village, and operating costs at $1.5 million annually. Council is expected to vote on whether it approves the project during Monday night's meeting.

But members of the Fort William Business Improvement Area (FWBIA) say the village will have an adverse impact on the community, and that it comes at too high a cost.

"If we're going to have solutions, let's have long-term solutions. Let's do things that are going to take care of the people," said Aldo Ruberto, a former city councillor and current chair of the FWBIA. "If you want to spend money, spend it on addiction centres, spend it on counselling."

The city gathered feedback on the village's location through a survey from Oct. 24 until Nov. 4. The survey focused on whether the project should be built at the Miles Street location or at Kam River Heritage Park, where dozens of people are staying in tents. 

Of 700 respondents, 68 per cent of people voted in favour of the Miles Street location. The site is located near a number of social services, such as the Thunder Bay Food Bank, Shelter House, People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment (PACE), Grace Place, and NorWest Community Health Centres.

If approved, the goal is to have the village ready by the end of April 2025.

"We see an alarming spike in the number of people that are living unsheltered after that April month is over, so to start to build relationships with people who we know are going to end up living on the streets unless we do something, it's important for us to start that work in advance," Willianen said.