Talk to anyone living homeless these days and you’ll hear about the miseries of bylaw enforcement. Bylaws and how they’re enforced dramatically shape the daily lives of people on our streets. And while the happy housed among us view them as necessary to manage “street disorder,” the way they play out for the people being enforced is essentially as a form of constant state-sanctioned harassment and theft of personal possessions.
The city’s bylaw department has been given expansive new powers to seize and dispose of people’s possessions, with 12 new bylaw officer hires in 2025-26 to help make it happen. The Streets and Traffic Bylaw lays out all the places where impoverished people aren’t allowed to sit, stand or lie down, while the 2023 Property in Custody Bylaw provides the muscle.
Here’s the basics on those bylaws, starting with the Streets and Traffic Bylaw. That’s the one that establishes prohibitions stopping “people” – by which is meant people living homeless, because other “people” are just fine to enjoy city streets if they’re sipping a latte or eating a meal at a sidewalk cafe – from being on sidewalks, medians and boulevards in the downtown area between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. The impact of the “street sweeps” on people who are already sick and suffering can’t be overstated, and has created a truly dystopian world for the 1,800 people living homeless in the Capital Region.
Section 102 (1):
– A person must not place, or cause or permit to be placed or left, any of the following items so as to occupy, obstruct, or cause a nuisance on any part of a street, sidewalk or other public place:
(i) any property or thing, or
(ii) a sign, as defined in the Sign Bylaw.
– A person must not place or cause or permit to be placed on, above or in a street, sidewalk, or other public place waste matter of any description, including without limitation, litter, rubbish, garbage, offal, filth, or any noxious, offensive or unwholesome substance or matter;102 (3)
The Director of Engineering, a person authorized by the Director of Engineering, a bylaw officer, or a police officer, may remove, seize, and impound or cause the removal, seizure or impoundment of any property or thing that unlawfully occupies, or has been unlawfully placed or left in, a street, sidewalk or public place, and such item will be dealt with in accordance with the Property in Custody Bylaw
103 (1)
Without limiting the generality of section 101, a person must not obstruct a sidewalk by squatting, kneeling, sitting, or lying down on it between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. of the same day if the sidewalk is located at any of the following locations: (a) (b) (2) in the area that is bounded by Cook, Pembroke, Store, Wharf, Government, Superior and Southgate Streets; abutting or adjacent to those parts of Cook, Pembroke, Store, Wharf, Government, Superior and Southgate Streets that form the boundary of the area referred to in paragraph (a).
103A
(2) A person must not place, construct, erect or cause or permit to be placed, constructed or erected any structure, tent, object or thing that encroaches on, obstructs, or otherwise occupies a boulevard or median without first obtaining written permission from the Director of Engineering.
(4) The Director of Engineering, a person authorized by the Director of Engineering, a Bylaw Officer, or a member of a police force, on behalf of the City may cause the removal, detention or impounding of any structure, tent, object or thing found on a boulevard or median in contravention of this section, and the portable sign will be dealt with in accordance with the Property in Custody Bylaw.
(5) Between sunset of one day and sunrise on the next day, a person must not: (a) (b) occupy a median by squatting, kneeling, sitting, or lying down on it; stand or walk on a median except while lawfully crossing a street.
Seized goods that aren’t deemed “rubbish” are to be held for 14 days (that’s new as of 2023 – it used to be 30 days) in a location that the City won’t disclose. Word on the street is that between the difficulty of the process to get something back, the lack of a proper chain of custody, and the distance that a person without a car is expected to travel to get their goods back from wherever they’re held severely limits anybody’s ability to get their possessions back.
Here’s what the City requires to get something back:
Claiming and Disposal of Retained Property
5 (1) (2) (3) (4) Within 14 days of the date of removal, seizure or impounding, owners of retained property may attend at the property return facility to claim and request the return of the retained property, after which the City will endeavor to return the retained property within 48 hours.
Any retained property that is not claimed pursuant to subsection (1) may be immediately and permanently disposed of without notice or compensation to any person. Permanent disposal of unclaimed retained property may be made to a landfill, recycling facility, or other waste disposal facility or, with the permission of the Director, to a registered charity. Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Director may provide any retained property to the police if they believe that such property may be stolen, may have been used in commission of a crime, or may be misplaced or lost.
6 (1) (2) (3) (4) For each removal, seizure or impounding of any property or thing under a City bylaw, the owner of that property or thing must pay the fee prescribed in Schedule A to the City. Retained property which has been seized shall not be released without payment of the applicable fee.
(The fee is waived for a first seizure in any given year, $50 for a second, $100 for a third.)
Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), no fee is payable for return of retained property to a person experiencing homelessness where in the opinion of the Director (of bylaw services, or authorized delegate) such item is a life-supporting item such as a tent, sleeping bag, medication, medical device, cell phone, personal identification, or waterproof or winter apparel.
6 (5) 6 Persons claiming retained property must, as a condition of claiming such property, execute a compliance agreement in a form prescribed by the Director stating that the claiming party will not repeat the unlawful behaviour.
7 – Nothing in this Bylaw shall be construed to impose a private law duty of care on any City employee, agent of the City, or police officer with regard to the removal, seizure, impounding, return, disposal or donation of any property or thing pursuant to this Bylaw or any related statutory authority. No Liability 8 No City employee, agent of the City, or police officer shall be liable to any person or entity for the application of this Bylaw.
The definition of rubbish under the bylaw is very broad. Most of the 10 tonnes of goods being seized every week by the City is likely immediately garbaged, though the City has not responded to questions about this. It’s left up to individual bylaw officers to deem whether the goods they are seizing qualify as rubbish.
4) Any property or thing that is removed, seized, or impounded may be immediately and permanently disposed of without notice or compensation to any person if it is rubbish, hazardous material, or a bulky item.
Definition of rubbish:
includes any item that, in the opinion of a City employee: appears to be of no resale value, or negligible resale value, is damaged or soiled to the extent that it appears it cannot reasonably be used for its intended purpose, was manufactured for single use, appears to contain an unidentifiable, noxious, or hazardous substance, is perishable, was manufactured for the purpose of packaging a product or thing, including food or beverage, or was part of a cart, bicycle, machine, or other similar item, including wiring and other small parts;
Definition of bulky item:
includes large, heavy, unwieldy or irregularly shaped items, such as furniture, sheet plywood, lumber, heaters, fencing, structures, and includes a shelter, unless such shelter is lawfully temporarily placed, secured, erected, used or maintained by a person experiencing homelessness in accordance with Parks Regulation Bylaw;
An argument can be made that enforcement is absolutely necessary right now because downtown businesses are suffering and residents feel nervous about coming downtown. That’s a valid point from the City’s perspective. But enforcement only works if there’s someplace for people to go.
That is not the case for people living homeless in these modern times, few of whom are actually choosing homelessness. There are no homes for them to flee to. All enforcement can do given that situation is chase people into other neighbourhoods. That is what is happening currently. People living homeless are telling me that they’re being told that they’ll be charged with drug possession or trafficking if they are caught using or selling drugs in the downtown core, but will be left alone if they move out of the core.
The harsh impact of policing homelessness has been studied extensively over the years. Here’s a 20-year-old report out of Vancouver. And here’s a 2025 study on street sweeps, also involving Vancouver. This was what researchers concluded from that 2025 study:
Findings underscore that confiscation of belongings was relatively widespread among our cohort of people who use drugs and concentrated among individuals who are structurally marginalized, emphasizing the need to end street sweeps and prioritize development of dignified housing and harm reduction policies involving affected communities in decision-making.