City of Toronto crews have begun clearing encampments at Allan Gardens that have been at the downtown park in recent years.
City parks and shelter support staff showed up at the park, located on the west side of Sherbourne Street between Carlton Street and Gerrard Street East, Friday morning and could be seen removing belongings and debris.
CityNews also saw Toronto police officers a short distance away from the park, but they were not actively participating in the clearout.
As Toronto continues to experience a severe shortage of affordable housing units and shelter spaces, Allan Gardens became a long-standing spot where people sought refuge. In the summer of 2023, officials said there were up to 60 people and 100 tents and structures in the park.
Elise von Scheel, a spokesperson for the City of Toronto, said outreach staff have been at the downtown park for the past 450 days trying to work with residents experiencing homelessness. During that time, she said approximately 400 people moved to indoor spaces and 100 of those individuals have moved into long-term housing.
As of Friday morning, von Scheel told CityNews there were nine people with encampments at the park. She said seven out of the nine have accepted accommodations at indoor spaces.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach and it requires that to meet the needs that we’re seeing here,” she said.
“We want to make sure this is collaborative and respectful as much as possible. Obviously, it can be a situation where tensions can rise, but we haven’t seen that recently.”
It wasn’t immediately clear why City staff decided to proceed with the clearing specifically on Friday.
When asked about what staff are doing to help, von Scheel said representatives from community organizations were brought in to help and added police officers were asked to come “as a precaution.” She said they’re working with people to see what belongings can be brought to a shelter, what items that don’t fit can go into storage and addressing other short-term needs such as getting new government identification to access services.
“The work continues here and so we’re here to assist the remaining individuals in getting the supports that they would like. Every person is different, every experience is different and so we’re working here to make sure we can tailor those supports to the individuals,” von Scheel said.
“Encampments are a symptom of a lot of problems. We’re seeing it across the country as well as in Toronto. It’s housing affordability, it’s mental health and addictions, it’s income supports and so the solutions to that are going to take some time. It requires all partners to be at the table and so our work in encampments really needs to put people first. It needs to focus on housing, which is the ultimate solution to homelessness.”
Crews are expected to remain at the park throughout Friday.
CityNews visited Allan Gardens in advance of the 2023 Toronto mayoral byelection to speak with people who were living at the park at the time. Lynn Walker, a 63-year-old woman, said she lived in Allan Gardens for nearly two years.
“This is a community, and it’s also a family,” she said in June 2023, adding the park became home for her and many others.
“Mom, mayor, sister, friends. They’re all family to me. I have friends, I never had friends before.”
Walker maintained that most people in the park would leave if they had housing.
“They need a place to live. They shouldn’t have to live in a park,” she said.
While Walker told CityNews she felt safe, she noted there were many issues with living in a park such as no running water, no bathrooms, and rats burrowing under the tents. Walker also said there were issues with fighting, stealing, and drugs.
City staff said the designated Sacred Fire site at Allan Gardens and the associated structures aren’t part of Friday’s efforts.
With files from Meredith Bond and Cynthia Mulligan