Tent city (Toronto, Lake Shore Boulevard)

In 1998 homeless squatters attracted attention by camping on a 55 acres (22 hectares) property that had once been the Victory Soya Mills.^[1]^[2] When the squatters made their home there the property was owned by Home Depot.

The community triggered world-wide attention.^[3]

In late September, 2002, when the number of squatters was estimated to be about 100 people, security guards evicted the homeless, backed up by a team from the Toronto Police.^[2] While there were no reports of serious injury the public perception was that Home Depot had acted heartless brutality. Squatters reported not being allowed to retrieve their prescription medications, or their pets. Home Depot did not give the squatters advance notice, as a landlord would be required to do, with a rent-paying tenant.

After the eviction a program was set up to provide the former squatters with rent-subsidies.^[2]

References

↑ Cathy Crowe (2025-12-16). Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out. Between the Lines. ISBN 978-1-77113-695-2. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 "A home of their own in Tent City". The Toronto Star. 2007-04-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-07-17. I was the 13th person to move into Tent City. It was Canada Day weekend in 1998. We were evicted in 2002, four years and two months later.
↑ Clifford Krauss (2002-06-16). "Amid Prosperity, Toronto Shows Signs of Fraying". The New York Times. p. A3. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2026-07-17. There is a joke that Toronto is like New York, except it is run by the Swiss. The subways are squeaky clean. Public parks are safe late into the night. But the emergence of Tent City and growing homelessness suggest that the quality of life in Toronto, as in many other Canadian cities, is beginning to fray under financial and demographic strain.

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[DyingForAHome-1] Cathy Crowe (2025-12-16). Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out. Between the Lines. ISBN 978-1-77113-695-2. Retrieved 2026-07-17.

[Toronto-Star-2007-04-08-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 "A home of their own in Tent City". The Toronto Star. 2007-04-08. p. 6. Retrieved 2026-07-17. I was the 13th person to move into Tent City. It was Canada Day weekend in 1998. We were evicted in 2002, four years and two months later.

[nytimes2002-06-16-3] Clifford Krauss (2002-06-16). "Amid Prosperity, Toronto Shows Signs of Fraying". The New York Times. p. A3. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2026-07-17. There is a joke that Toronto is like New York, except it is run by the Swiss. The subways are squeaky clean. Public parks are safe late into the night. But the emergence of Tent City and growing homelessness suggest that the quality of life in Toronto, as in many other Canadian cities, is beginning to fray under financial and demographic strain.

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