A report to be presented to City Council today (Wed) says over the past two years, the Community Support Program has observed and reported a significant increase in the number of people sleeping in building vestibules, encampments, public sidewalks, benches, and parks. The CSP includes five Community Support Officers and a supervisory.

The Street Activity sub-committee’s report cites that CSOs responded to 2,630 calls in 2022 and connected with over 3,100 people. Over 1,800 of the calls were for outreach, which includes things like housing issues, wellbeing checks, counselling, public safety, mental health, and medical assistance.

The recommendation for Council is to correspond with the province to highlight the need for stabilization beds alongside permanent supported complex needs housing.