City of Hamilton staff recently provided an update to City Council regarding the controversial Barton-Tiffany tiny shelter project and homelessness in general.
Councillors heard that the tiny shelters, which are located near the West Harbour GO Station, have served 113 people and have accommodated 43 pets.
The shelters were supposed to be set up by December 20, 2024, but the project was delayed until February 2025.
The 40-cabin site has the capacity for 80 people.
A total of 21 individuals have moved into permanent housing after staying at the site, but there were also 19 discharges for other reasons.
There have also been two deaths, both of which have been deemed non-suspicious, and 20 suspected overdoses.
Emergency service calls between February 2025 and October 2025 averaged five per month.
Nevertheless, the city says that the program “successfully provided shelter spaces to its intended target population of vulnerable, unsheltered individuals, including couples and those with pets.”
Good Shepherd Centres, which operates the site, also added that there has been “key success in the following areas: rapid implementation of the program to full capacity, extensive partnerships with health, housing and culturally specific supports, high volumes of client referrals to Rapid Access Addictions Medicine (RAAM) clinic nurse practitioners, high volumes of client appointments to weekly health clinics, low numbers of involuntary discharges or use of service restrictions and low volume of emergency service calls to the site.”
Data shows that the number of encampments in the City of Hamilton decreased from 112 in December 2024 to 60 in July 2025.
Factors potentially influencing the drop include the launch of the tiny shelter community and the addition of 192 shelter beds by the city, but also the city’s rescinding of the Encampment Protocol in March 2025.
The Encampment Protocol allowed tents in parks around the city with minimal restrictions.
In September 2025, 2,073 individuals were reportedly identified as “actively experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness (e.g. staying in an emergency shelter or staying outside or in encampments).”
At the same time, the number of people actually living on the streets in Hamilton was measured at 287 in December 2024 but actually increased to 318 in October 2025 over the course of the tiny shelter operation.
The city also conducted a survey of tiny shelter residents in June 2025 to assess their experience.
The city received 64 responses.
A total of 80 per cent of residents agreed that they felt safe at the site and 73 per cent agreed that their unit met their needs.
When it came to other facilities on site, only 34 per cent said that the showers were clean and well-maintained, and only 25 per cent said that the washrooms were clean and well-maintained.
Staff also reported that the site continued to have “a small number of units unavailable” at times “due to ongoing maintenance and repairs.”
Since the Barton-Tiffany tiny shelter project is considered temporary and was only approved for three years, city staff are working on a project exit plan, which will be presented by the end of the year.
The city has specifically said multiple times that the tiny shelters they purchased are able to be folded up for storage or for transportation to another site.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
