Kingston gives people six hours notice and no water
This page is built entirely from documents the City publishes, and one it doesn’t.
What the City provides
Kingston’s published encampment procedure lists what supports are offered: street outreach, shelter referral, the Integrated Care Hub, medical care and storage.
It does not include water. It does not include washrooms, showers or garbage collection.
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6 hours
notice to leave, under Kingston’s published encampment procedure.
City of Kingston, published encampment procedure
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0
water taps, washrooms or garbage bins offered at the sites people are told to leave.
City of Kingston, published encampment procedure
What the standard is
The Ontario Human Rights Commission published a statement on encampments in December 2022. It is direct:
A rights-based approach requires access to basic services, such as clean water, sanitation facilities, electricity, and heat.
The first thing most people ask is why any of this matters when Kingston has shelters. It matters because the shelters are full: the figures below come from the City itself. Shelter operators are absorbing far more demand than they were ever funded to handle, and when there is no bed left, people are outside. The City’s own procedure then offers those people nothing.
Canada’s Federal Housing Advocate reviewed encampments nationally and reported in 2024:
Most encampments lack necessities such as clean water, bathrooms, a place to shower, or secure storage for belongings.
That report calls on all governments to ensure people living in encampments have access to water, food, sanitation, heating and cooling, healthcare and harm reduction services.
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80–100%
Shelter occupancy in Kingston on any given night.
City of Kingston
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1,654
Households waiting for social housing at the end of 2024.
City of Kingston, Housing and Homelessness Annual Report 2024
What another Ontario region does
In 2023, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo went to court to clear an encampment. Among its complaints was human waste on the property.
The court’s finding was that the problem “could have easily been addressed had the Region facilitated earlier access” to washrooms. The municipality had created the sanitation problem it was complaining about.
Waterloo Region now provides waste disposal, portable toilets and a drop-in space across the road with water, showers and laundry.
Kingston provides none of that, by its own published procedure.
What we’re asking for
Water, washrooms and garbage collection at encampment sites. Waterloo Region already provides all of it, and a court has already ruled on why it matters.
We’re also asking the City to publish its Encampment Protocol. Council Policy #85 refers to this document. It does not appear to be available anywhere public.
Ask your councillor for the protocol
It has a yes-or-no answer, which makes it hard to wave off, and it’s written out in full on our Take Action page.