Encampment issue is not unique to Lethbridge
By Lethbridge Herald on July 25, 2025.
Maxine Brown
For the Herald
Encampments in public spaces have become a visible and emotionally charged issue in Lethbridge. For many residents and business owners, seeing tents pop up near the downtown core or in parks is not just frustrating, it’s alarming. The immediate questions people ask are “Why here? Why is this happening in our city?”
It’s a fair question. And the answer is simpler, and more uncomfortable, than many realize.
Homeless encampments are prevalent in Lethbridge because Lethbridge has services people in crisis need.
That may sound counter-intuitive, especially to those who believe people are coming here to “take advantage” of resources or commit crimes. But when you look at the data, the geography, and the infrastructure, the picture becomes clear: Lethbridge isn’t failing, it’s functioning as the regional hub for survival in southern Alberta.
Lethbridge is the largest city in this part of the province. Smaller towns and rural areas surrounding Lethbridge simply don’t have shelters, detox beds, food banks, or addiction treatment centres. When someone loses housing in Cardston, Fort Macleod, or Pincher Creek, where do they go?
Lethbridge.
This isn’t because people are “seeking a lifestyle.” It’s because there is literally nowhere else for them to go. That’s not a problem unique to Lethbridge, it’s true across Canada. Larger cities absorb the social pressure from the surrounding region because that’s where the services are concentrated.
Homeless individuals naturally cluster around places where they can meet basic needs. That’s why encampments are typically found near:
• Emergency shelters
• Soup kitchens and drop-ins
• Addiction services and hospitals
• Public washrooms or green spaces with water access
This is not a conspiracy or an orchestrated movement, it’s survival. People sleeping rough need to stay close to safety, support and community. It’s why we see similar patterns in every urban centre, from Calgary to Kelowna to Saskatoon.
It’s true that being a service hub puts enormous strain on our resources: fire/EMS, police, waste management, and social agencies are stretched thin. Downtown businesses are impacted, and taxpayers are asking hard questions.
But let’s be clear: Lethbridge didn’t create this crisis. We are responding to a much larger regional and provincial failure to build enough affordable housing, invest in long-term addiction care, and support Indigenous communities recovering from decades of systemic harm.
Yes, Lethbridge is carrying a disproportionate burden. But that’s because we’re doing something right: we offer help. In a country as wealthy as Canada, refusing help to the most vulnerable people among us should never be an option.
If we want fewer encampments, we need more than shelter beds. We need:
• Transitional and supportive housing to get people out of tents and into stability
• Stronger partnerships with surrounding municipalities and First Nations to share the load
• Targeted public safety efforts that distinguish between vulnerable people and those exploiting them
• Provincial and federal funding that reflects the regional role Lethbridge plays
We also need a public conversation grounded in facts, not fear. The presence of encampments doesn’t mean we’ve failed. It means we’ve become a focal point for a much larger crisis. We must respond not with anger, but with smart, compassionate strategy.
People don’t come to Lethbridge because they want to sleep in a park or an alleyway. They come because our city still offers help when others won’t.
We should never be ashamed of that. We should be proud. And we should demand that other levels of government support us in meeting the moment, rather than scapegoating those who need help the most.
Maxine Brown has worked in the private sector, municipal and provincial government roles. Her career has included frontline work with vulnerable and marginalized populations, and individuals facing addiction, along with positions in policy compliance and regulatory oversight.
27-26
Well no s—t Sherlock. Welcome to the social experiment of consumption sites, safe drug supplies and resulting organized crime gangs. The result of no consequences judicially and free drugs when you need them has consequences for the law abiding society. Ho hum another million, another committee. They have services in crisis need. Laughable. They can walk into any service any time and find the way out. There is a difference between drug addiction and voluntary homelessness and bonafide homelessness.
Thank you buckwheat, I concur! They come here because they cannot get away with it in their own communities, not because of the services! They come here because our city welcomes them because they do nothing to deter them!
Litigating is going to have be the way to bring change since our leaders refuse to listen to the people and the businesses impacted. When all else fails, bring in the litigation lawyers. That appears to be the only way to wake them up!
When winter comes they return to their ho hum parents homes where they have rules, but once spring comes, they off to Lethbridge where they can live a life of lawlessness, complete with people bringing them food, water, drug use materials, and even some giving them tents. The city does nothing to stop them when they arrive back here every spring, because they get their big fat pay checks that we citizens pay them, while we have to pick up the tab on their inactions!
This shows just how ill-informed people are who say they work in this area!
You were doing well at the start and then you lost me! You really do not have the knowledge of who those people are on the streets and why they are here!
They are not using most of those services, such as the shelter which is running around 40% occupancy and can house them all. Many are seasoned encampment/sleeping rough veterans who come here to commit crimes and not all are addicted. I know there are some who come here for good reason . . . a better life, some of the services available and finding work but those numbers are probably in the 10-20% levels.
I have watched these issues and have researched them for 10 years now and live in the middle of some of the highest crime spots and see it everyday!
Many non-profits fail to see what is right in front of their noses, and hinder the recovery of these people by enabling and encouraging them with their services of providing paraphernalia but no counselling services. There are some dedicated non-profits out there, but many only hinder efforts to end this crisis!
If you have been paying attention, many of the encampments removed have stolen property, weapons, fire hazards and active warrants out for residents!
They refuse to stay in shelters because they cannot conduct their criminal activities. Those sleeping rough downtown day and night are not there because they are seeking services here! Most commit crimes at night and sleep during the day. Most of them on the streets downtown are there selling drugs, prostituting, committing other crimes such as break and enters in businesses/homes/vehicles, shoplifting (during the day), and most are all connected.
They arrive each spring, as numbers continue to build up coming from other areas: many from large centers such as Calgary and Edmonton or nearby provinces, and come with their pimps ( or whatever you want to call them ) who drive circuits around them downtown all day and night, along with the local ones who are here all year long. There are over 50 vehicles doing this so that gives you an idea just how big the problem is!
The fact that they come and go each year, committing the same crimes proves they do not come here for supportive services to get them off the streets, but to continue their criminal lifestyles!
I would also state that these issues cost the Lethbridge property taxpayers over $14 million annually now, due to all the services needed! That doesn’t include the funding from provincial and federal governments!
The Alberta government proved what I have stated since 2017, that we need more treatment beds, effective treatment programs and less non-profits who enable and encourage this crisis!
Tangible proof of this being effective is now evident after the AB government reduced SCS sites and focused on treatment recovery programs, saving hundreds of lives already and reducing fatal overdoses over 60% in Lethbridge and over 40% province wide, and that is with many of the programs still in their early stages.
We are not helping people by enabling them to stay on our streets and commit crimes to pay for their drugs, with organized crime being the ones making the money off of them!
The life of a prostitute on our streets is worse than Hell, if you have seen how they live, rarely able to bathe or shower and often beat by their ‘boyfriends-husbands’ during, sleeping rough.
In the winter, frostbite often takes it toll as well. Allowing them to stay in these encampments and sleeping rough, conditions them psychologically to live this way, and impedes treatment efforts. The longer they are on the streets the harder it is to treat them!
So much more to say in disagreement of your letter!
I find your letter misinformed and misleading!
…this demonstrates clearly how the animals are now running the zoo, we should be proud to be over run with criminals and drug addicts and attracting more everyday! This letter clearly illustrates that the paid gov schills who provide services believe that Lethbridge is now the destination, and it should be according to them. I hear the fat lady singing.
I hope none of us are forced out of our home because we can longer afford it.
Costs of rent and ownership of a home are forcing many to carefully monitor their spending to survive day to day. One tragedy or another increase to ur essentials will be the cause for u being homeless. Then I think u will reconsider ur current attitude to those less fortunate. I recently saw an elderly lady pushing a shopping cart with all her life’s possessions thru Park Place Mall. I’m willing to bet she was one of those forced into homelessness by one of the above factors. Be careful when u judge the unfortunate as u may become one of them.
The shelter has room, but more importantly there are services in place to assist her. It is tragic though, as you state that many have been forced to move because the greed of the corporate property management groups who now operate many of the city rental properties, corporations who in some cases are international property management groups if you deep dive their name. They know that there are government subsidies available for renters and don’t think about anything but making more money when they see the opportunity, even if people will no longer be able to afford rent, because the supports, pensions and wages have not gone up in relation to the increase.
Though many of the people living on the streets in Lethbridge arrived here for committing crimes rather than because of bad circumstances in their lives, there are always people who do not deserve the circumstances they find themselves in. There are some people who have also been housed by Lethbridge Housing Authority, but because it is a habit they have developed, they occasionally spend a few days hanging out with their friends on the streets before returning to their paid housing to shower and sleep.
What is glaring here, for Canada, and one of the main reasons for encampments, is, increasing poverty. Some countries who have some of the lowest poverty rates are Switzerland, Norway and Denmark. It doesn’t hurt to look to them for some ideas/solutions.
Solutions for poverty include: economic growth when driven by increased productivity and income, “policies that promote social equity such as access to education, health care, and social safety nets.”
Canada’s housing crisis which has created a lack of affordable housing, is also a key factor.
And, this is why, cutbacks to education and health care are very unwise.
Ahem…again, our unhinged UCP government in Alberta continuing to take a wrecking ball to this province.
Lethbridge homeless problems are different than Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, etcetera! The answers are already there, but many will not implement the solutions for fear of backlash. Most are drug and crime related in our city!
The mistake made with the SCS sites in Alberta were looking at how Europe dealt with drug issues . . . a huge mistake! Europe’s fentanyl problem has no comparison to the crisis we face in North America . . . no comparison! We have different cultures as well the impact us which do not in Europe.
You are mistaken! But you were also a proponent of the Lethbridge SCS, so much I can say would change your mind!
If you want to find answers, look at want Vancouver DTES has done and afford those policies complelely.
The problem in Lethbridge is the drugs and the culture associated with them which include gangs and organized crime! You can build all the shelters and housing you want, but the issues will continue to increase, because you have not dealt with the root cause of the problem . . . that root has turned into a massive tree!
The greater Vancouver DTES, with a population of around 20,000 spends over $400 million fund about 300 non-profit and government agencies to house and support a few thousand people. It attracts people from across Canada because of all of its services so they can continue their addiction and crime practises.
Build it and they will come! This has only created bigger issues and amplified the problem.
Effective treatment programs, drug courts, and law enforcement are the only thing which is going to reduce the issues to a numbers which are more manageable!
The feds, our tax dollars, fund around 90% of the housing supports in Vancouver!
I applaud the Alberta government for their policies to focus on treatment and recovery programs, which have already shown extreme success.
Too many people have died because of bad decisions and policies!