At the Montreal courthouse Thursday, the city agreed to delay the dismantling until June 1 to allow the two sides to debate the issue before a judge next week.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing asked to relocate is always an anxiety-provoking experience for people living in encampments,\u201d the clinic\u2019s founder, Donald Tremblay, said after the brief hearing. \u201cThey don\u2019t know what might happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A skateboarder uses the Van Horne skatepark, which also houses a small encampment of unhoused people in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
The Clinique juridique itin\u00e9rante previously won a court order halting the dismantling of one of the city\u2019s largest encampments, along Notre-Dame St. E.\u00a0That case remains before the courts.<\/a> <\/p>\n In the Van Horne case, the clinic argues that evicting people from the area violates their charter rights and would plunge them into deeper instability and isolation \u2014 in addition to contradicting the city\u2019s protocol.<\/p>\n The Plateau-Mont-Royal borough posted notices in the area last week ordering people to leave before Thursday morning to ensure \u201cthe full and safe use of recreational facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe notice replicates the very type of intervention that the (city\u2019s) protocol seeks to avoid,\u201d the clinic states in court documents, adding the approach \u201ccompromises the safety, dignity and rights of people experiencing homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n The City of Montreal\u2019s new encampment protocol was announced\u00a0in February and adopted on May 11<\/a>. It calls for a more tolerant approach, suggesting the city only resort to dismantling as an \u201cexceptional measure\u201d after other options have been exhausted.<\/p>\n If the city deems an encampment must be removed, the protocol requires boroughs to\u00a0establish designated\u00a0\u201ctolerance zones\u201d<\/a> where people could be relocated.<\/p>\n However, the legal clinic argues the city has ordered the people to leave without offering a concrete alternative.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears the city is using the exceptional measure of relocation as its first resort,\u201d it states.<\/p>\n The City of Montreal declined to comment for this article, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Plateau-Mont-Royal borough said it followed the city\u2019s protocol and pushed back against the notion it made no efforts before issuing the eviction notices.\u00a0<\/p>\n The borough noted teams have been visiting the encampment for several weeks to direct people toward resources and other locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement, borough mayor Cathy Wong said the borough tolerates several encampments on its territory.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, the Van Horne skatepark and Mile End basketball court are recreational areas largely used by local youth and families,\u201d Wong added. \u201cThe presence of an encampment in this location raises numerous safety concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n Roughly 10 people have been living in the encampment for about a year. People on site this week declined to speak with a reporter, but were aware of the eviction notices.\u00a0<\/p>\n In sworn statements prepared for the courts, several of those living there speak of staying in another encampment until city workers forced them out last fall.<\/p>\n They describe feeling safer near the skatepark because it\u2019s a less isolated location, of not being comfortable in overcrowded shelters, and of how the eviction notices triggered stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n At least one man says he called the city\u2019s 211 number \u2014 as suggested on the eviction notices \u2014 only to be referred to the nearest shelter, which told him it was full.<\/p>\n He says he was never offered any help to move his belongings, beyond being handed a garbage bag.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe people living around the Van Horne skatepark and the Mile End basketball court are a tight-knit community,\u201d the man, unhoused since he was 16 years old, says in his statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take care of ourselves, we check our belongings and we protect one another.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0522-city-encampment-4348_303259996.jpg\")
The tents of unhoused people share space with a skatepark near the Van Horne overpass in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"Seen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0522-city-encampment-4373_303259994.jpg\")
An unhoused man rests in the sun at the Van Horne overpass skatepark, the site of a small encampment. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
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