I'm working with seriousness to address the recent rise in evening gatherings, escalated behaviour, and cleanliness issues at the corner of Queen St. W. and Bathurst St. I am working with City divisions to use all the tools available to us municipally to resolve the ongoing crisis at Queen St. and Bathurst St.
Our community is still seeing a significant increase in people experiencing homelessness and substance use related health crises, following the provincial government’s closure of supervised consumption services. In late June, West Neighbourhood House and Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre (PQWCHC) held a community meeting to discuss the concerns from our community, and the responsibility of all levels to support in resolving. You can find the meeting summary from the organizers here.
Action the City is Taking
I have pushed for Toronto Shelter Supports and Services (TSSS) to deploy an interdivisional response that includes:
- Increased interdivisional coordination: There are daily joint visits by the Encampment Office, Solid Waste Management and Toronto Police Services (14 Division). They bring their on the ground experience from successful large scale encampment responses to this corner.
- Case management: Streets to Homes is working with individuals at the corner, during the day, evening and at night, to identify their needs, schedules, and engage in one on one case management to refer them to appropriate services and other locations as appropriate.
- Waste management additions: 3 daily visits by Solid Waste Management between 7am and 3pm to make sure the corner stays clear.
- Addressing illegal dumping: Municipal Licensing and Standards are conducting spot checks of the area to address any illegal dumping.
- Site Improvements: Conducting a physical assessment of the Meeting Place site to improve safety, lighting, cleanliness, camera coverage, and vegetation maintenance.
- Increased Staffing: Maintaining existing harm reduction roles and actively increasing staffing levels at West Neighbourhood House (WNH) to better support both indoor clients and exterior perimeter concerns.
- Outreach Deployment: Launching a Fred Victor (FV) Community Outreach Team (active 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., 7 days/week) to handle outreach, overdose response, de-escalation, cleaning, and stakeholder relations.
The Meeting Place (West Neighbourhood House) and PQWCHC have developed a flyer that can easily be shared with information on the new outreach teams working in the area and information on who to call. For more information on the new outreach service please see PQWCHC’s letter here.
A comprehensive action plan is currently being developed, which will help inform future funding and policy decisions.
This work is more important than ever to ensure that Torontonians facing a wide range of challenges have access to safe, welcoming spaces where they can connect to the supports and services they need.
As part of my work at the TTC Board, I can also share that we have been moving to improve safety conditions in our transit system. Through this work, I’ve requested that TTC and TSSS staff work together to ensure that the Bathurst and Queen St W streetcar stop is maintained and kept clear at the highest level.
Action You Can Take
The City continues to work on mitigating the impacts of the mass closures of Consumption and Treatment Services by the province. I encourage you to contact your MPP and let them know that you support health care services that respond to the crisis. Write a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Premier. You can find more information on what you can do here: Print Version TDIN Advocacy Committee Single Page Flyer 2026
Make the Right Call
- For someone in distress, call 211 and ask for Toronto Community Crisis Services.
- For City services, including waste removal and safe sharps disposal, call 311.
- For medical emergencies and situations where you do not feel safe, please call 911.
- For non-emergency, immediate responses, please reach the Fred Victor Community Outreach team 416-707-4233 (8am to 8pm). The FV team operates 7 days per week from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and conducts regular outreach rounds, engages individuals to assess needs and provide referrals to social services and healthcare supports.
- For non-urgent community health concerns please contact PQWCHC at [email protected]