![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790308697_804_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\nShawn Moosehunter is soft-spoken even as he explains the challenges of finding a place to live in Saskatoon. <\/p>\n
“Some people, they want credit checks, three references and jobs, and like, we don’t have all that,” Moosehunter told CBC News on Thursday. <\/p>\n
“We barely have enough to pay the rent.” <\/p>\n
Moosehunter spoke with CBC while standing in front of the tent he’s called home for the past two weeks. He stayed at shelters before moving into the encampment along Avenue K South between 19th Street West and 20th Street West, he said.<\/p>\n
Now that he’s been living on the street, Moosehunter said it could be weeks before there’s another space available for him in the already strained shelter system.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Feces, rodents and public sex at tent encampment alarm Saskatoon officials:<\/p>\n
Feces, rodents and public sex at tent encampment alarm Saskatoon officials<\/p>\n
Acting fire chief Yvonne Raymer says she’s not only concerned about fires at the tent encampment along Avenue K in Saskatoon. She also lists several public health and safety issues, including school children witnessing sexual activity.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, city police and fire department officials planned to dismantle part of the encampment. <\/p>\n
Resistance from advocates and supporters of the homeless people in the encampment forced the city to pause its operations. <\/p>\n
The city said protesters surrounded vehicles carrying stacks of fencing, even climbing on top of one of the vehicles.<\/p>\n
The fences were meant to block the cleared encampment from being re-inhabited. <\/p>\n
Officials said most of the protest activity did not involve the occupants of the encampment but that police, fire department staff and other agencies were confronted by aggressive protesters who directed profane, derogatory and vulgar comments at them. <\/p>\n
“The level of aggressive protest from community advocacy groups has made any work at the site unsafe,” a news release said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790308697_295_default.jpg\")
Community advocates and supporters have tried to stop Saskatoon fire department and police officials from clearing out the encampment and put up fencing in the area. (Jeremy Warren\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Speaking with media earlier in the day, Moosehunter thanked those who were willing to stand up for him and the dozens of others staying at the site. <\/p>\n
“I think it’s awesome that they’re finally standing up for us to stay somewhere because we have nowhere to go,” he said. <\/p>\n
Fencing set to go up<\/p>\n
The fire department posted “emergency notice to remedy” signs around the site earlier this month, stating that it would take “corrective action” if the condition of the property wasn’t improved.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
At a news conference before the pause was announced, acting fire chief Yvonne Raymer said the planned cleanup would begin on Thursday.<\/p>\n
She confirmed that an injunction has been filed against removal of a portion of the encampment located on a parking lot at 301 Avenue K South. Raymer said the fire department could move in to clean up the parking lot but will respect the legal process as it plays out in Court of King’s Bench. <\/p>\n
Raymer said the rest of the encampment, located on the adjacent lots at 1112 and 1202 19th St. W., would be cleared Thursday. <\/p>\n
Raymer said St. Mary’s School, located nearby, has had to put up fencing as a barrier between the encampment and students. <\/p>\n
Despite the effort, she said the fire department has continued to receive complaints about what children are seeing at the encampment, including needles, drug use, overdoses and sexual activity. <\/p>\n
“Some of the kids have been chased in public spaces, been yelled at, parents have been accosted. So there’s a lot of safety concerns,” Raymer said. <\/p>\n
WATCH | Saskatoon fire officials to dismantle encampment:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790308698_998_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Saskatoon fire crews to dismantle parts of homeless encampment amid court battle<\/p>\n
Acting fire chief Yvonne Raymer says fire crews will hold off dismantling tents on a parking lot along Avenue K until a court injunction hearing next week. Crews still plan to clean up and fence off two properties on 19th street, clearing most of the tents.<\/p>\n
A growing amount of garbage, rotting food and human waste have attracted pests, she said.<\/p>\n
There are also concerns about potential fires in the encampment, which has grown to at least 51 structures. <\/p>\n
Raymer said fire department employees have been confronted in the wake of the eviction notices being delivered. <\/p>\n
“Our staff noted that community advocates outnumbered the individuals who are actually staying in the encampments,” she said. “For most of the confrontations that occurred, it wasn’t coming from the unhoused individual. It’s actually from the [outreach] organizations and advocates.” <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790308699_543_default.jpg\")
The “emergency notice to remedy” that city officials posted at various points throughout a Saskatoon tent encampment on Sept. 23, 2026. (Jeremy Warren\/CBC)<\/p>\n
David Fineday, a member of Sweetgrass First Nation who volunteers as a community advocate, was on hand as police and fire officials moved in on Thursday. <\/p>\n
He said roughly three-quarters of the people in the encampment are Indigenous. <\/p>\n
“They want to displace all these people. They wanna get them out of here. OK, my question is where are they gonna put them?” Fineday said. <\/p>\n
Senos Timon is the councillor for Ward 2, where the encampment is located. <\/p>\n
Timon said he wants compassion for those living in encampments and for the employees who enforce the city’s bylaws. <\/p>\n
“In broad ways, we are responsible to our citizens, at the same time also really to support those who are most vulnerable,” Timon said. <\/p>\n
In its statement announcing the pause of the cleanup, officials acknowledged that it is frustrating for many in the community, including “the St. Mary’s school families and staff who have been asking for officials to take action for the past year.”<\/p>\n
The statement said the city is planning its next steps. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shawn Moosehunter is soft-spoken even as he explains the challenges of finding a place to live in Saskatoon.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-908667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}