We, the undersigned residents of Waterloo Region, demand that Regional Council immediately create and adopt a Public Camping Bylaw that upholds the rights and dignity of unhoused people in our communities.

Why this matters

• Charter rights: In the absence of accessible housing or adequate shelter beds, unhoused people have the legal and moral right to shelter themselves, as affirmed by Section 7 of the Charter (“life, liberty, and security of the person”) and upheld in Canadian courts.
• Local crisis: Waterloo Region has one of the highest rates of unsheltered homelessness in the country. According to the most recent Point-in-Time Count, 43% of unhoused residents live completely outside — compared to just 10% in Toronto.
• Current harm: Without a bylaw, unhoused people have nowhere to shelter themselves. They effectively do not have the right to exist. People who attempt to shelter themselves on public land face police intervention, displacement, confiscation of belongings, or arrest. This creates instability, trauma, and increased risk of death while failing to provide any real solutions.

Demands

Regional Council must direct staff to develop a bylaw, for example modeled on London's approach and tailored through consultation with unhoused residents, community volunteers, and advocates.

The bylaw must:

1. Designate multiple public sites where unhoused people are legally permitted to camp.

Sites must be located near transit and community resources, with at least one in Downtown Kitchener
Multiple locations are necessary for safety, autonomy, and to reduce overcrowding.

2. Ensure basic sanitation and services at these sites, including:

• Regularly cleaned toilets, handwashing stations, well stocked with toilet paper, and menstrual products.
• Access to showers where possible.
• A regularly serviced dumpster for waste disposal.
• Harm reduction supplies.

3. Respect human rights and safety by allowing people to choose where and with whom they shelter, particularly protecting women, Black residents, and other marginalized groups who experience disproportionate risks in motels, shelters, and encampments.

The bottom line

This bylaw will not solve homelessness. But it is a necessary and immediate step to uphold human rights while the Region advances its Plan to End Chronic Homelessness and works to expand affordable housing.

We demand that Council act now to respond to this crisis and ensure that no one in Waterloo Region is criminalized simply for trying to survive without a home.