On August 20, 2025, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released an important decision concerning homelessness, encampments, and municipal authority in The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2025 ONSC 4774. The decision arose from Waterloo Region’s attempt to enforce a new site-specific by-law to clear the long-standing encampment at 100 Victoria Street North in Kitchener. The Waterloo Region’s prior attempt to clear the encampment had been rejected by Justice Valente in 2023 in a landmark Charter of Rights and Freedoms decision in The Regional Municipality of Waterloo v. Persons Unknown and to be Ascertained, 2023 ONSC 670.
The Region’s site-specific by-law attracted significant media attention throughout 2025 particularly because the homeless population had increased dramatically in the two years since Justice Valente’s 2023 ruling and because the by-law sought to clear the 100 Victoria Street encampment to facilitate construction of the Kitchener Central Transit Hub. Local and regional outlets reported extensively on the proposed encampment closure, the constitutional challenge brought by unhoused residents in response, and the broader public debate surrounding homelessness, municipal by-laws, and Charter rights in Waterloo Region.
The site specific by-law prohibited individuals from residing at the encampment and authorized enforcement measures, including fencing the property and removing personal belongings. While the Region proposed a transition plan for some existing encampment residents, the by-law ultimately permitted eviction, enforceable by police power, regardless of whether alternative housing had actually been secured.
A group of unhoused individuals challenged the site specific by-law, arguing that it violated their rights under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. They sought an interlocutory injunction preventing enforcement of the by-law until the constitutional issues could be fully heard and determined by the Court. The applicants argued that homelessness in the Region had significantly worsened since the Court’s earlier 2023 encampment decision and that Waterloo Region still lacked sufficient accessible shelter spaces for the continuously growing number of vulnerable unhoused individuals.
Justice Gibson ultimately granted the interlocutory injunction. The Court found that there were serious constitutional issues to be tried and accepted that encampment residents would suffer irreparable harm if the by-law was enforced before the application could be decided on its merits. The Court recognized the significant physical and psychological risks associated with forced displacement, including increased exposure to violence, loss of community supports, and heightened risks related to substance use and mental health crises.
Mercedes Perez was appointed amicus curiae to represent encampment residents whose capacity to instruct counsel might be compromised or who otherwise had not been able to retain counsel. She was assisted by lawyers Jen Danch (Swadron Associates) and Karen Steward (Pro Bono Ontario) on behalf of the Mental Health Legal Committee.
This decision continues the growing line of Ontario encampment cases that recognize the complex relationship among homelessness, access to shelter, public infrastructure projects, and Charter-protected rights. It also reflects the courts’ increasing willingness to scrutinize municipal responses to homelessness in which vulnerable individuals may be left without adequate shelter alternatives.
Some of the media reporting on homelessness in Waterloo Region and the injunction decision can be found at the following links:
The hidden cost of not addressing homelessness in Waterloo Region: expert
Over 2,300 people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region: survey
Advocates call on Region not to evict those at Victoria Street encampment
Community advocates and residents raise concerns with plan to clear Kitchener encampment
Final Decision in sight for potential Victoria Street encampment bylaw
Victoria Street encampment to be cleared for transit hub construction
Region’s plan to clear Kitchener encampment raises concerns for federal housing advocate
Lawyers seek court injunction ahead of Kitchener encampment eviction
Eviction pressure at Kitchener encampment should be paused, say lawyers
Court rules in favour of Kitchener encampment, eviction pressure to be paused
Court rules in favour of Kitchener encampment residents, pausing plans to evict them