B.C. Supreme Court finds Victoria has authority to restrict camping in city parks

Workers from a hazmat company dismantle vacant tents remaining at tent city on the courthouse lawn in Victoria, B.C., Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

VICTORIA — The B.C. Supreme Court has found that the City of Victoria did not go beyond its authority by passing bylaws restricting overnight camping in some city parks.

Three homeless petitioners sought to quash two bylaws passed by the city in 2024 and 2025 that prohibited “temporary overnight sheltering” in Irving and Victoria West parks.

Petitioners Krystle Fox, Kimberly Scheu and Shea Smith claimed the city exceeded its authority by enacting the bylaws that didn’t properly consider whether washrooms were available where camping was allowed, or account for international legal obligations affirming the peoples’ rights to housing and water.

The court found the city was within its authority to enact the bylaws and dismissed the petition, but left the door open for an action to “directly challenge the constitutionality of the bylaws.”

B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender was an intervener in the case and says in a statement that she was disappointed with the decision.

She says the ruling “presents another obstacle to unhoused people seeking to challenge municipal bylaws that undermine their rights and dignity.”

“People with disabilities and Indigenous peoples are significantly more likely to be unhoused,” she said.

Alexander Kirby, the petitioners’ lawyer, said they are “considering our options going forward.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2026