City Space

Halifax is allowing homeless encampments in its parks. Should other cities do the same?

03.05.2024 - By The Globe and MailPlay

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play

On August 18, 2021, downtown Halifax made international news when the city erupted in a sprawling protest against the removal of illegal homeless shelters from a park. Compared to other Canadian cities, Halifax’s homeless population has tripled in the last three years. Emergency shelters aren’t doing enough. Building new housing takes time. It takes policy changes — and money. Until that’s in place, is leaving people to camp in parks really the best a city can do? We’re telling the story of park encampments, and how the city’s homelessness problem got so bad.

More episodes from City Space