‘It’s concerning’: Saskatoon reports upward trend in encampments

The deputy chief of Saskatoon’s fire department is signaling a “concerning” uptick in the number of encampments across the city, mirroring the upward trend also seen in the total count of those without homes.

This year alone, deputy chief Yvonne Raymer says the city has cleared over 325 encampments and that Saskatoon’s Fire Community Support (FCS) Team, which handles encampment concerns, is backlogged by about 90 reports.

This backlog, according to Raymer, means it takes the city five to seven days to respond to a report once it comes in.

“When we look at the encampment numbers themselves, we are over triple from when we started this process in 2021, and it’s concerning,” Raymer said.

Raymer is urging residents to report an encampment to the city when they see one so that those living in them can be connected with the right resources.

But community members like Chris Moyah are raising concerns about a system at its capacity, saying there are not enough resources, such as shelters and warming centres, to meet the needs of everyone.

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“We need more warming stations and like more shelters and stuff, and not just in the west side. We need it … on the east side too, because like people love to explore the city,” said Moyah.

Removing encampments is not the solution, said community member Jessie LaPlante, who organized a rally in support of the unhoused outside city hall Wednesday.

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“We need designated encampment sites. It’s obvious that there’s no shelters that are going to open up for the 15 to 2,000 people we have already still on the streets,” said LaPlante.

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But the city is pushing back, saying large, centralized encampments are not safe options for people as they pose safety risks for residents and the surrounding community.

“Some of the things that you see is disease outbreak, overdoses, fires. There’s actually a lot of violence, human trafficking,” said Raymer, speaking on the concerns of these potential sites.

The Wednesday rally saw over two dozen attendees, who shared personal stories of their experiences not having a home or how they have been supporting others without a home.

Last week, Saskatoon released its Point-in-Time (PiT) count for this year, which measures the number of those facing homelessness on a single day, pointing to a record-high homeless count of 1,931.

There are currently three enhanced shelters across the city and a number of warming centres. The City of Saskatoon is planning on opening a new warming centre on Avenue C later this month.