The City released its August and September community safety update. Fire addressed 195 encampments in August and 96 in September. Camps are growing larger more quickly, which means fewer camps overall. Encampment fires went from 7 in August to 23 in September. Overdoses dropped from 402 to 243. Police calls in the downtown core went from 3,673 to 3,411, which is still above both months last year.
Ward 3 has had a better summer, with far fewer encampments than other core areas of the city. My read is that camps are going up bigger and faster elsewhere that are closer to support services, while here neighbours are watching and reporting them right away, so they never get settled.
Some of the report concerns me. Encampment fires jumped, and with colder weather coming, many of these camps are near buildings and fences. A 24-hour patrol around the Avenue C Drop-In Centre calmed things down for ten days in August, but it pulled patrols from other areas and couldn’t continue. Activity came right back once regular patrols resumed. The Coordinated Community Safety Plans are currently unfunded for 2027. A service level report comes to Budget in November, and I’ll be watching it closely, because funding them could eat into any savings we find in the budget process.
The City is also finalizing its Winter Emergency Response Plan for 2026, and the warming location announcement goes public in early November when the cold weather locations open.
