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Ontario Premier Doug Ford says a decision by an Ontario Superior Court justice that prevents the Region of Waterloo from clearing the encampment at 100 Victoria St. N. in Kitchener is “the most ridiculous ruling I’ve ever seen.”
Ford was in Sault Ste. Marie for a steel production funding announcement Friday just after noon when he was asked about the decision.
Ford said he had spoken to regional chair Karen Redman and other local mayors Thursday night after the decision was released.
“Don’t get me wrong. I have a great deal of respect for our judges … but he comes out with this cockamamie idea that they’re going to hold up … transit, for what, 30 people? They’re going to hold up millions and millions of riders, communities and everything saying you can’t go in there, you can’t touch them.”
“I wish I could get that guy’s address. I’ll send 15 encampments in his backyard and see how he likes it. The craziest decision I’ve ever heard. But there are a lot of crazy decisions coming from our courts lately,” Ford said.
Encampment timeline began 5 years ago
Tents at the Kitchener encampment first went up in late 2021. The number of people living at the site has changed depending on the time of year, with more people there during the warmer months.
The region previously tried to clear people from living at the site in 2022. In January 2023, a Kitchener judge ruled the region couldn’t evict people from the site unless they gave them another place to live.
The region has argued it needs the property in June for Metrolinx construction crews, who will raise train tracks in the area ahead of the region building a new transit hub at King and Victoria streets.
In 2024, some mayors asked Ford to use the notwithstanding clause to clear homeless encampments.
In June 2025, the Ontario government passed the Safer Municipalities Act with a goal of making parks and public spaces safer. At the same time, the province announced an investment of $75.5 million for homelessness prevention and to provide people living in encampments with access to “reasonable alternative accommodation.”
Residents and advocates are reacting after an Ontario judge ruled that residents of a Kitchener encampment can stay. The decision, delivered Thursday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, stated that the Region of Waterloo cannot remove the residents living at the downtown Kitchener encampment because it violates their Charter of Rights. CBC’s Carmen Groleau heard from residents on Friday.
Region of Waterloo councillors passed a site-specific bylaw for the encampment site near the Kitchener train station in April 2025 and updated it this past January. It aimed to move people off the encampment site by April 1 this year.
But on Thursday, Justice Michael R. Gibson’s judgment said the region cannot clear the encampment unless the region can house everyone who is homeless or creates a tenting protocol that would allow people to put up tents on some regional properties.
Region reviewing judge’s decision
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the region confirmed Redman spoke with the premier and other local municipal leaders Thursday night “regarding the court decision and the broader challenges municipalities are facing related to homelessness, encampments and community safety.”
“The discussion reinforced the importance of co-ordinated support and shared solutions across all levels of government,” it said.
“The region is reviewing the decision carefully, and will continue working with provincial and municipal partners on next steps that are compassionate, practical and legally compliant.”
