Encampment growing at Energy Court in Sudbury

Greater Sudbury is expanding winter shelter hours as its Energy Court encampment grows. Alana Everson reports.

As winter nears, officials in Greater Sudbury say there are 211 people living outdoors across 50 locations, with a growing one on Energy Court.

The plan is to offer expanded hours at Energy Court, the Samaritan Centre and Off the Street Shelter as the cold temperatures set in.

Providing expanded service near Energy Court is important as the population of the nearby encampment is growing.

“The option of having a 24-hour service means that during the daytime, a number of our city partners, including the city-operated client navigators, can meet with people there,” said Gail Spencer, the city’s interim director of children and social services.

“They know where they are (and) they can engage with them. The Go Give Project also offers some other services there -- crisis support, de-escalation, overdose prevention.”

Only tents are allowed

While the encampment is growing, officials said no structures are allowed at Energy Court, only tents.

“We do receive complaints about structures, but when we are in the area conducting regular cleanups, we are also assessing for risks and coming up with solutions on how to mitigate that,” said Stefany Mussen, the city’s director of corporate security and bylaw services.

“That may involve removing structures. It may involve removing other hazardous material, such as combustibles.”

The city funds services at the trailer at Energy Court provided by the Go Give Project.

Ali Farooq, the Go Give Project programs manager, said they are seeing the increase in people living there firsthand.

“At this point, we are just seeing a little bit of crowding, and again, with crowding, you get different personalities,” Farooq said.

“(There) can be some tension, some violence, which is something that we are seeing. But we are also reporting as we see.”

The city said it’s working on a security plan for the Energy Court encampment site, in collaboration with Greater Sudbury police.