The spread of homeless encampments across Canadian cities forced Parks Canada to cancel some overnight events designed to teach immigrant and urban families how to camp, according to an internal agency report.The Evaluation Of The Learn To Camp Program said growing tent cities created difficulties for Parks Canada events traditionally held in accessible urban locations such as historic sites and heritage canals.“Intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic and reflecting a complex set of factors including housing and cost of living crises, communities across Canada have reported an increase in homeless encampments over the past five years,” said the report.“The emergence of this issue created a challenge for those Learn To Camp hubs that had made a regular practice of holding overnight camping events in urban spaces like national historic sites or along heritage canals as these locations could be accessed via public transit,” wrote Parks Canada managers.The agency sought to hold overnight camping events in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Halifax.However, public criticism and conflicts involving homeless encampments prompted some locations to cancel overnight events and offer workshops instead.“Heightened public awareness of urban encampments as well as direct criticism from advocates for hosting recreational camping events in or by spaces where unhoused people had been displaced led some hubs to pause overnight events and shift their focus towards workshops,” said the report.Managers did not specify how many events were cancelled.Federal figures published by the Department of Housing on July 17 counted 4,763 homeless people living in encampments nationwide.Another 12,857 were sleeping in “unsheltered locations such as streets, alleys, parks, transit stations, abandoned buildings, vehicles, ravines and other outdoor locations,” according to Results From The Annual Enumeration Of Homelessness.The report counted another 36,716 people staying in shelters and 10,747 in transitional housing..Parks Canada’s Learn To Camp program provides low-cost events intended to introduce urban residents and new Canadians to camping and other outdoor activities.The program made accommodations for participants from different cultural backgrounds.“Examples of adaptations included offering foods appropriate for common dietary restrictions such as halal marshmallows,” said the report.“Urban Canadians, particularly those with younger children and new Canadians, experienced several common barriers to camping and outdoor activities, key among them skills and knowledge gaps,” said Evaluation.Parks Canada managers said participants generally reported learning something from the program.“Respondents named at least one new skill acquired during the event,” they wrote.“While the most frequently cited skills were putting up a tent, lighting a campfire and using a camping stove, safety in the outdoors was also a recurring theme.”However, 48% of participants surveyed said they could identify reasons they might not go camping again.Weather was the most common complaint, cited by 36%, followed by insects at 17% and physical discomfort at 8%.
