It’s been 246 days since Barrie declared a state of emergency over encampments, and the issue appears far from resolved.
In an update to the City's executive committee on Wednesday, City clerk Wendy Cooke said despite ongoing enforcement and outreach efforts, seven encampments have now been identified on City-owned land.
That’s up from two encampments reported during the committee’s last update on Apr. 1.
On May 5, when Mayor Alex Nuttall announced his bid for re-election, he said there were no longer any encampments on city-owned land, though he said some continued to exist on provincial property.
City officials could not confirm a number of encampments on provincially-owned land on Wednesday.
Locations of the remaining encampments were not disclosed.
Cooke said that the increase in encampment activity is due to generally warmer outdoor conditions in the city.
| MONTH | AVERAGE HIGH (C) | AVERAGE LOW (C) | AVERAGE MEAN TEMP. (C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | 3.5 | -7.6 | -2 |
| April 2026 | 11.2 | 0.4 | 5.8 |
| May 2026 (based on incomplete data, through May 12) | 12.7 | 0.0 | 6.3 |
Meanwhile, shelters and warming centres across the region have been operating at or near capacity most nights in recent weeks. Cooke said there have still been roughly five to six beds available on average each night, although Barrie sites continue operating slightly above capacity.
The County of Simcoe has also extended operations of two Barrie warming centre locations—Busby Centre and Hope Barrie—through May to give outreach teams more time to connect people with the County’s bridge housing program.
Toronto-based company One Community Solutions will continue operating Barrie’s warming centres until May 31.
During the meeting, Mayor Alex Nuttall questioned whether current shelter capacity numbers include additional spaces at the Tiffin Street bridge housing project and unused space at the HART Hub and Blake Street facilities.
As of Thursday, 10 individuals are expected to have transitioned into the bridge housing program, according to the County.
Cooke noted there is no fixed timeline for individuals to accept placement into bridge housing. People are allowed to tour the site and decide whether they want to participate, and those who decline or defer remain eligible to be contacted again later.
Nuttall suggested that if those spaces are not currently reflected in the County’s reporting, Barrie could potentially have a surplus of “30 to 40 rooms.” However, staff said they would seek clarification from the County.
The update also confirmed community safety patrols previously delivered downtown were suspended following an order from Solicitor General Michael Kerzner in February. The County said it is now exploring alternative approaches to community safety and outreach in the downtown core.
Cooke said outreach support from the County is requested immediately when a new encampment is identified.
“Once we identify an encampment location… we contact outreach immediately to try and get that ball rolling to try and assess those individuals right away,” Cooke told councillors during the meeting.
In the update, the clerk added that Barrie’s encampment response team—working alongside the County and the Barrie Police Service—has addressed 149 encampment sites on both public and private property since the emergency order was declared on Sept. 9.
The latest figures from the County of Simcoe show 686 people in Barrie experienced homelessness within the last 90 days and were connected to a County-provided service.
