Updated September 24, 2025 @ 6:09pm
Barrie bylaw officers, joined by police and several shelter staff from the Busby Centre were at a homeless encampment in a wooded area on Bradford Street near Tiffin Street on Wednesday morning, as a 24-hour deadline approached for residents to gather their belongings and leave the property.
This was the second known encampment to be dismantled since Mayor Alex Nuttall declared a state of emergency in the city earlier this month, citing public safety concerns.
About 10 residents were at the encampment when authorities arrived at the property, which was muddy from recent rain, as debris of all sorts was strewn around.
Late Wednesday afternoon, the County of Simcoe, which is responsible for shelter services, said local outreach teams and service providers continued to engage and support all 18 individuals at the encampment before the enforcement efforts by Barrie bylaw and police.
"Seven have been approved for the County of Simcoe's motel voucher program (including couples and pets), three have transitioned into emergency shelter spaces, and the remaining chose not to accept accommodations," the county stated in an email to Barrie 360.
Several residents at the encampment who were packing their belongings wore t-shirts with the words "survival is not a crime."
On the driveway of the property, contractors stood milling about next to a truck and a bobcat, which was to be used for cleaning up the site.
According to an encampment resident, an elderly couple had been living in a tent on the site up until Tuesday, when they were moved to a motel, after having been uprooted from the Anne Street encampment in August during a police homicide investigation.
Another resident, who identified himself as Bill and is in his 50s, said he had been staying at the Salvation Army in Barrie for several months and had been involved in programs including housing placement with the County of Simcoe, but at the end of March, he said there were no possibilities of placement, so he had to leave the shelter, and he learned about the Bradford Street encampment from a friend living there.
He says the encampment grew in size when the one on Anne Street was closed down and the City of Barrie began cleaning it up.
"I've been a contractor, and I worked all summer building a restaurant for a fellow in town," he explained, adding he had an appointment with a contractor later in the day. "It's not that I don't have work, it's that I don't have a sufficient amount of regular hours of work."
Based on the income he receives from social services, Bill says he isn't able to sustain a house.
He returned to the encampment on Wednesday to help clean up and remove debris, noting he is back living at the Salvation Army.
Notices of eviction were placed on tents and structures at the encampment on Tuesday, and according to another resident who was living there, they were given a notice more than a week ago that they would have to be off the property by September 24.
"Speaking from being in the system, there aren't a lot of services; there just isn't enough for everyone," Bill says.
He says there are not enough beds for the number of homeless in Barrie, which he estimates to be around 500.
As for drug use, it's in every encampment, mostly marijuana and methamphetamine at the Bradford location, according to Bill, quick to emphasize that not everyone is a user.
Asked if underlying conditions might be responsible for some of the drug use, Bill agrees.
"I think it's mostly depression more than anything else," he says, before looking around the encampment, "because of the state and where they're at. You can't get any more bottom than the bottom of this, right?"
