On day two of the hearing to decide the fate of the encampment at 100 Victoria Street in Kitchener, lawyers for each side sparred over their interpretation of the Canadia Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The region wants the encampment cleared as the property will be used as the construction staging ground for the Kitchener Central Transit Hub that is expected to be built just down the street at Victoria Street and King Street. Lawyers for the Region of Waterloo said Metrolinx plans to start construction in October 2026, and the region needs the land vacant by June to prepare. In January 2026 the Region of Waterloo approved a new bylaw to remove the encampment. Lawyers for encampment residents argued the bylaw is discriminates against several specific groups of people, including women and Indigenous people. Lawyers from the Ontario Attorney General’s Office (AGO) office said although those groups may be overrepresented in the homeless population, it doesn’t mean the bylaw itself is discriminatory. They believe the bylaw is focused on the property, rather than the people currently living there. “It’s not about removing certain people ... it’s about excluding all members of the community from the property,” said a lawyer from the AGO. They said the bylaw is reasonable and in the best interest of the public. “The region has made the difficult choice, the use that will provide the greatest public good is the transit hub,” said a lawyer from the AGO. Lawyers for encampment residents disagreed. They said very little has changed since a 2023 hearing, when a judge ruled clearing the encampment would violate residents’ Charter rights. “We have a fundamental difference in how to consider the case; the Region wants to keep things specific, put blinders on and set aside the previous case,” said Shannon Down, a lawyer with Waterloo Community Legal Services. Down disagreed with the region’s assertion they have done enough to help encampment residents. Down said, by the region’s own admission, they have no plan for the people currently living there if the encampment were to close. “Until they come up with the plan - closing this encampment would be a violation of Charter rights,” Down said. According to Down, the region failed to consider an alternative encampment site or safe camping protocol that could help encampment residents transition if the site closed. “Part of the region’s road map could be an alternative encampment or safe camping site,” said Down. The third and final day of the hearing is scheduled for April 20.
