Opinion | What my toddler taught me about encampments and the Toronto we’re becoming

This op-ed was originally published in the Toronto Star on January 5, 2025.

Jasmine Ramze Rezaee is the Director of Policy and Community Action at Right To Food.

I’m a parent to a little one who goes to daycare and like so many families in Toronto’s west end, we’ve spent countless hours at Dufferin Grove Park. For more than two years — while the park was home to an encampment — my son played there and adored that space. In all that time, nothing about the encampment affected our experience. I never saw a needle, never had an uncomfortable interaction, and never felt unsafe.

That’s why recent commentary suggesting parents feel “threatened” by encampments is so upsetting. It pits people against each other and turns parents into pawns of a larger political narrative, distracting us from the real crises facing our city: poverty, unaffordable rents, and rising food insecurity.

Yes, tents in parks can be jarring. They change how people use the space, including families with children. I understand why some people feel discomfort. But discomfort is not danger — and our comfort shouldn’t come at the expense of someone else’s survival.

People in encampments don’t want to be there, but they have no better alternative. They need housing that is affordable and adequate — or at least shelters that are accessible, safe, allow pets, and protect personal belongings. When those conditions aren’t met — and they routinely aren’t — sleeping outside becomes, tragically, the least harmful option.

Shelters are essential harm-reduction tools in moments of crisis, but they aren’t solutions to a housing system hollowed out for decades. Toronto doubled the number of shelter beds between 2021 and 2024, yet still couldn’t meet demand.

The wait-list for a rent-geared-to-income studio apartment in Toronto is 11 years. We do not have enough affordable market units, subsidized units, supportive housing, or accessible homes — even if all governments were rushing to build. This is the predictable consequence of treating homes as an investment vehicle instead of a human right.

The housing crisis collides with another: incomes that no longer keep up with living costs. The living wage in Toronto is at least $27 an hour, far higher than our minimum wage. Food prices have increased 27 per cent since 2021 and are projected to rise another 4 to 6 per cent next year. Food insecurity now affects 10 million households nationwide — including 2.5 million children.

I’m left wondering how anyone can live on Ontario Works (OW), our provincial income support program. It provides a maximum of $733 per month for an adult, even as the average asking rent for a single room in Toronto is $850. If these programs were adequate, the homelessness crisis would ease.

Clearing encampments is not a solution. It is an esthetic and political choice that moves people from one patch of grass to another while causing harm. It tramples people’s rights while creating the illusion of progress.

If we want fewer people living in parks, we need to address the root causes. That means investing in income supports — raising OW and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) so people aren’t trapped in poverty — and implementing a national Groceries and Essentials Benefit to help over 9 million households keep up with the cost of living. Adequate housing and incomes are the foundation of a city where everyone can thrive.

Encampments are not a reflection of individual failure — they are a symptom of a broken system. When we treat them as policy challenges rather than personal shortcomings, we can give everyone a fair shot.

Sometimes the simplest lessons are the most profound. My toddler has shown me that even in a city full of hard conversations, the basics still matter. He waved at people living in the encampment the same way he waved at everyone else. Nothing about the park ever felt scary to him. It was a quiet reminder that belonging isn’t something we need to ration — and that fear is a choice, not a fact.

As a parent, I refuse to be used as a political shield for bad decisions. My concern — which I know is shared by many others — is building a city where everyone has a safe place to live and enough to eat. A city where we choose empathy over fear and community over displacement.

The Toronto our children inherit is up to us. Let’s choose one where everyone belongs.