Closure of 8 'high-risk' encampments to begin Friday: city

A homeless encampment in downtown Edmonton on Dec. 27, 2023. (CTV News Edmonton)

Notice has been given to clear several high-risk encampments in Edmonton that were the subject of an injunction earlier this month.

In a statement, the City of Edmonton confirmed four of the eight encampments would be closed between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3.

"Additional action in high-risk encampments after Jan. 3 will proceed only after evaluation and impact assessment with partners," Karen Zypchyn of the city wrote.

On Dec. 18, a judge ruled the eight encampments could only be cleared if the following conditions were met:

• Only applies to eight encampments in question;
• Before clearing the encampments, city and/or the Edmonton Police Service will make sure there is sufficient shelter space or other indoor space;
• If not enough space, officers will close only if there’s a danger to public health and safety;
• City will consider the cold weather in decision making;
• City will advise agencies at earliest convenience about closure;
• Order does not impact ongoing wellness checks by city staff or fire services;
• Notice will be given again to residents; and
• Notice to include reason, date.

Zypchyn said the city would ensure full compliance with the order.

A spokesperson for the Edmonton Police Service also confirmed officers would be present at the closure of the encampments.

"The City of Edmonton leads the closing and cleanup of camps and any assistance provided by the EPS is part of a coordinated effort led by them," Carolin Maran wrote in an email to CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. "As is the case with many encampment cleanups, the EPS attends to ensure the safety of all parties."

"EPS and the city have worked together to ensure the conditions of the temporary injunction have been met, including considerations of weather, shelter space and notice timelines. However, It is important to note that these considerations were all part of existing practice prior to the recent judicial events."

Maran says EPS has assisted with the cleanup of 2,329 encampment structures so far in 2023.

"The approximately 130 structures scheduled as part of these efforts do not represent an unprecedented operation, and are part of a larger backlog of encampments requiring assessment and cleanup."

The Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness is calling for Edmontonians to come out to act as silent witnesses to the closures.

"The more people who understand how brutal and nasty this process is, and let others know, the greater the possibility that public pressure will push the city to find a better way to address the shame of having hundreds of people with no more shelter than a tent or tarp," ECOHH chair Nadine Chalifoux wrote in a news release.

"Officials call this process, which has happened scores of times already this year, 'encampment removal,'" said ECOHH spokesperson Jim Gurnett. "But as witnesses will see, it is really an attack on some of the most powerless people in our community, with inadequate shelters they depend on destroyed and the people left to retreat down the street with whatever they can salvage."

ECOHH says the first closure will happen Friday morning at an encampment west of Quasar Bottle Depot at 95 Street and 105 Avenue, with another closure on Dec. 30 near the Herb Jamieson Centre, a closure at Dawson Park on Jan. 2, and a camp near the Bissell Centre will be closed on Jan. 3.

The process usually starts at 8 a.m., ECOHH notes, and typically takes several hours.