This case is about the equality rights of unhoused people and the gendered realities of homelessness.
LEAF is intervening before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
FACTS
Hamilton’s Parks By-Law does not allow tents on public property. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton enacted an encampment protocol that allowed tents on public property subject to restrictions. The City repealed that protocol in August 2021, meaning tents on public property were once again prohibited.
Fourteen individuals who are or have been unhoused in Hamilton challenged the constitutionality of the provisions of the Parks By-Law prohibiting tents on public property. They argued that the bans and their evictions from encampments violated their rights under s. 7 of the Charter, and discriminated against them based on sex, race, the combination of race and sex, and disability under s. 15 of the Charter.
The trial judge rejected their claims, providing only three paragraphs of analysis on the s. 15 claim. The individuals appealed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario.
ARGUMENTS
LEAF will argue that courts must properly evaluate s. 15 claims – they are not secondary issues and should not be treated as such. LEAF will also emphasize the need for an intersectional approach in this case. Systemic inequality creates unique pathways to homelessness for women and gender-diverse people and causes them to face unique hardships. As a result, these groups are disproportionately impacted when municipalities actively impose encampment restrictions and evictions, thrusting them further into a cycle of violence and discrimination.
OUTCOME
The Court of Appeal for Ontario will hear arguments in this case on February 10 and 11, 2026.
Read LEAF’s factum.
LEAF is grateful to Alexa Biscaro (McEwan Partners) and Erika Anschuetz (Norton Rose Fulbright LLP), counsel in this case.
LEAF’s interventions are also guided by a case committee with expertise in issues relevant to the intervention. LEAF is grateful for the case committee members who supported this intervention, including Emily Hill, Sonia Lawrence, Estair Van Wagner, and Margot Young.
