Guelph's proposed tiny home encampment delayed until 2025

Plans for the sanctioned tiny home encampment in Guelph have been delayed after a report from the county deemed the project, in its current form, "to not be viable."

The County of Wellington's Housing Services Division shared a report on the proposed pilot project during a council meeting on Tuesday.

The county added that "many factors which need to be evaluated [were] not addressed or supporting data [was] not provided."

The detailed county report points to a number of unanswered questions, including site location. 

The group behind the proposal is the Guelph Tiny Homes Coaltion (GTHC), which is a collection of advocates who came together last January as a response to the homeless and housing crisis in that city, and had hoped to have a sanctioned encampment ready to go by the winter of 2024. 

Planning has now been pushed into the new year.

Homelessness has been a persistent problem in Guelph and countywide. The number of people experiencing homelessness in the region is up by 33 per cent, month over month since the beginning of last year, according to the report.

"As a coalition we were hoping to have … some opportunities to house and home displaced and homeless folks by this winter," said Mike Marcolongo, a GTHC volunteer who speaks for the coalition. "Unfortunately the right location hasn't come forward yet."  

Detailed operating budget not provided

The county report also pointed to discrepancies around the budget: GTHC's "high level" forecast of the operating cost was $627,000 per year. However, a City of Guelph staff report from Tuesday said it would cost about $900,000 annually, and the county projected it to be $2.5 million based on the Waterloo encampment on Erbs Road. 

The county also said a detailed operating budget wasn't provided.

Marcolongo explained at Tuesday's council meeting that they are unable to finalize a budget until a location for the encampment is found. 

Despite the lack of clarity around costs, Ward 3 Coun. Phil Allt told CBC News the project won't be cheap.

"If I were to look immediately at what we're probably going to have to provide I would say that my guess is probably a million and a half [dollars] per year," he explained. "I'm not an expert, but I don't want to be surprised if it comes in at a number higher than anybody else is calculating."  

City of Guelph support

Guelph council unanimously supported the encampment proposal "in principle," with a motion asking Wellington County "to consider how this model may fit within the housing continuum moving forward." 

This means the city will advocate for this project to the extent that they can, Allt said.   

"I think we are moving carefully to ensure ... that we have a model where we've considered all of the pitfalls, and ensure that it's one that can be sustained for a longer period of time."    

Council asked city staff to come up with some location options by the first quarter of 2025.