Halifax working with remaining residents of University Ave. homeless encampment

The deadline for people to leave a designated homeless encampment in downtown Halifax has arrived and the municipality is working with the remaining few people to help them find a new place to live.

The Halifax Regional Municipality closed the designated encampment on the grassy median of University Avenue in September and gave residents until Nov. 1 to leave.

Max Chauvin, Halifax's director of housing and homelessness, said Monday that about nine people were still in tents at the site.

"Some of them we're working with on an option that will become available to them in the next few days," Chauvin said.

"That's what it is right now, working one-on-one with those last folks to find out what might work, where could they go, what option would best meet their needs."

About 35 people were living at the encampment before it closed. The site had an original capacity for six tents and had been overcrowded for months.

Chauvin said camp residents have moved into a variety of housing and shelter options over the past few weeks. 

Municipal and provincial outreach staff are working together to connect with people dealing with homelessness and find options that work for each person, he said.

The municipality said the closure was needed to protect camp residents from heavy snow and ice removal equipment that would be operating in the area this winter.

Once everyone has left University Avenue, Chauvin said, the city will clean up the median to remove any garbage, but there are no plans for fencing or more extensive remediation.

He said he doesn't know exactly how many people are sleeping rough now, but it's more than 100 in the five remaining designated sites and various non-designated locations around the city.

There were 1,335 people on the by-name list that tracks people experiencing homelessness in Halifax as of Oct. 30.

Chauvin said progress to connect people with housing is happening, but there's more to be done because they see more people becoming homeless "every week."

"The largest group that we see of new to [being] homeless are people who simply can't afford the rent — and so it's an income issue, and that continues."

Various new provincial options are open or will be coming online soon for both people sleeping rough and those on the by-name list.

The province has opened about 60 Pallet shelters as temporary housing in HRM so far, with 85 more being built now in Dartmouth and Clayton Park. A spokesperson with the Department of Community Services said Monday those shelters are expected to be complete by the end of the year.

A supportive housing community of tiny homes in Lower Sackville is expected to open 30 of its 60 units in the coming days.