West Vancouver

The Encampment Management Process

Bylaw officers from the District of West Vancouver operate in conjunction with the West Vancouver Police District ("WVPD") to provide support to encampment residents and enforce specific regulations under the Park Bylaw. This process occurs from 8am 8pm. 

In addition to the District, the WVPD operates an "integrated outreach team" composed of their community policing section, the mental health unit of the North Vancouver RCMP, and an Integrated First Nations policing Unit. (IFNU)* This team operates seven days a week, from noon to 8pm, and attends mental health calls,  follows up with unhoused individuals, and provides "district care kits" composed of clothing and grocery gift cards, if needed.

While police are active past 8pm, they do not carry out any encampment evictions at this time.

Encampment Evictions

The District of West Vancouver carries out encampment evictions under sections 5.6(i) and 5.20 (g) of its Parks Regulation Bylaw Bylaw No. 4867, 2015. Those sections state that:

5.6 No person shall do the following in or on any park: i) take up a temporary abode overnight;

and

5.20 No person shall do the following in or on any park, except as permitted by the Director: g) deposit, leave or store, or cause to be deposited, left or stored, any thing 

Removal notices are typically posted under Section 5.20 (g) as, according to Bylaw Officers, there are generally materials beyond just tents and other structures that are located at encampments, and s. 5.20 is a more encompassing bylaw provision.

Neither the district, nor the WVPD rely on the Trespass Act, unless the encampment is located in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh First Nation, and the nation has asked for removal of the encampment.

When an encampment is first discovered (either by a resident who calls the District, or by the WVPD "integrated outreach team") a community relation department is dispatched to provide information to the residents in the form of a directory (see figure 1). The directory shows the various social services offered by the District, including a mobile shower program, food bank, and recovery programs, the times these services are offered, and contact information for different departments within the District.

Once a community relation department has provided this information, a bylaw officer will attend the site alongside the WVPD, to informally notify the encampment resident of the relevant bylaws, and to potentially identify any issues on site. 

Issues include:

• The temporality of the encampment (i.e., whether it is set up at all hours of the day, or only overnight);

• the location of the encampment (i.e. more remote, or closer to sensitive uses including children's playgrounds and environmentally protected areas);

• the disposition of the individual (cooperative or uncooperative);

• whether weapons are present; and,

• the presence of needles or other garbage that is not properly disposed of (but, recognizing the multifaceted nature of the opioid epidemic, not the presence of needles themselves).

Notably, the district does not provide any needle disposal bins to unhoused individuals, although certain public bathrooms contain these.

If several issues are identified, this typically necessitates a quicker eviction, and a written notice is then issued by the bylaw officer.

If no issues or other safety concerns are identified and the encampment resident is cooperative, then bylaw officers will typically give a verbal warning for the resident to move on within a certain time period. This time period is often a few days, but can be extended at the officer's discretion depending on factors including housing or shelter availability. Bylaw officers will return to the site and issue a written notice if the resident has not moved within the agreed upon time. The written notice will provide a date by which the resident must move.

Once the removal notice has expired, the district will come back to schedule either a full or partial cleanup, depending on whether the encampment resident has left the space. If a full cleanup is scheduled, tents, clothes, blankets, and items of perceived personal value may be stored for 30 days (in practice, items are held for much longer). Often, this involves cleaning up discarded materials and any garbage left in the area.

If the encampment resident has not left the site, removals of materials will be done with police presence.  

Where there are tents with no occupants these are examined along with WVPD in most cases. If there are any observable concerns, the removal process may be expedited. Independent of any safety concerns, a removal notice/outreach directory & schedule is posted and attached with duct tape to the tent itself, notifying of contravention and need for removal with an associated date.

Tickets are never issued for the presence of an encampment, but may be issued as a last resort for extenuating circumstances including unsecured fires, inebriation, and nuisance.