Category Archives: homelessness

10.10.26
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An amendment to the City of St. Thomas Official Plan will ‘Create a connected parks and recreation system, rather than treating individual parks as isolated parcels’

The City of St. Thomas is updating its Official Plan to recognize parks and recreation as essential municipal infrastructure and a key component of complete communities.
The process is the subject of a public meeting this coming Tuesday (Oct. 13) at 6 p.m. in the council chamber at city hall.
A proposed amendment would align the Official Plan policies and the Parkland Dedication Bylaw with the 2026 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and current provincial requirements.
It would repeal current Parks and Recreation policy direction and introduce new policies supportive of the recommendations in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan, approved in February of this year.
According to the report to be presented to city council at Tuesday’s meeting, “The proposed changes represent a modernization of the city’s parkland planning and dedication framework that considers the city’s anticipated population growth, changing community needs, and demographic forecasts.”

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09.05.26
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Laying the groundwork for a future integrated transportation network linking St. Thomas with Aylmer

A new Highway 3 corridor appears to be on the radar and will improve connectivity between St. Thomas and Aylmer.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has retained Stantec Consulting Ltd. to undertake a Planning, Preliminary Design, and Class Environmental Assessment.
Stantec made a presentation to Elgin County council on Aug. 11.
The purpose of the study is to identify transportation improvements to Highway 3, including a new arterial road connecting to the St. Thomas Expressway extension, known as Technology Trail, to improve transportation connections between St. Thomas, including Yarmouth Yards, and communities to the east.

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06.20.26
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‘The dream of home ownership should always be within reach’ – St. Thomas homebuilder Doug Tarry

“We’re not so much in a housing crisis; we are in an affordability crisis.”

That was the observation this week from Rob Flack, the province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

He was speaking Monday afternoon at Geerlinks Home Hardware, as he toured several of the outlets in Elgin-Middlesex-London with Home Hardware President and CEO Ian White (second from right in the photo below).

For the St. Thomas stop, they were joined by Mayor Joe Preston and homebuilder Doug Tarry.

Flack continued, “And everybody knows that things are expensive in this world these days. Everything has gone up in price, especially housing.

And when that happens, people put their thumb on the pause button, Number 1.

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04.11.26
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The City of St. Thomas partnership with Indwell is leading the charge for a new vision of hope and homes for the homeless in the community

A new supportive housing project for St. Thomas was announced last March, a continuation of the successful partnership between the city and Indwell.

The organization is a Christian charity dedicated to providing affordable housing and community support

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday morning on the site of the former Balaclava Street Public School.

Indwell had announced that they will be transforming the four-storey structure into 78 units of supportive housing, equipped with essential supports to assist residents, and to be known as Balaclava Crossing.

This will include 36 units within the existing school structure and an additional 42 units in a new extension.

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03.21.26
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The road ahead for Railway City Transit: Ensuring you will be able to promptly get there from here

Less than 18 months after a consultant’s report called for an aggressive shift to sustainable travel modes in St. Thomas, the city is undertaking a ‘Railway City Transit Plan for Growth.’

Before delving into the latest exercise in putting the city’s transit system under the microscope, let’s recap some of the findings of the Transportation Master Plan refresh project compiled by Paradigm Transportation Solutions.

Kevin Jones of Paradigm recommended an aggressive shift in the operation of Railway City Transit that would see a six-fold increase in annual service hours involving 26 buses in service operating 17 hours every weekday.

These figures are based on a city population of 79,500, a couple of decades distant.

Jones went on to note, there is a “need to fund transit that provides an affordable alternative, enables access to all areas of the city and gives residents choice in how they travel.”

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10.04.25
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‘Our communities feel abandoned by the very institutions meant to protect them.’ – St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp

“In communities plagued by chronic criminality, safety seems to have become a privilege instead of a fundamental right.”
A compelling observation from St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp.
It was not spoken at city hall during a council meeting; instead, it was delivered Thursday afternoon via video conferencing to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights at their meeting in the Wellington Building in Ottawa.
Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton sits on the committee, as does Brantford-Brant Conservative MP Larry Brock, who visited St. Thomas in July for a roundtable discussion to examine the evolving challenges impacting public safety in St. Thomas and Aylmer.

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09.27.25
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Project Tiny Hope move-in day is Oct. 1: ‘The first phase of residents living, growing and creating the community we always dreamed of’

On June 27 of last year, construction began on the first tiny home to populate 21 Kains Street, where, eventually, 40 such homes and other amenities will provide safe, affordable housing in a downtown neighbourhood community.
A community of more than just housing, it’s a new beginning.
The Project Tiny Hope partnership includes the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin, Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes.
The community will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units to accommodate adults, youth and families.
And 15 months later, the countdown to move-in day is underway for the residents who will call Project Tiny Hope their new home.

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09.06.25
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Working together ‘on highly collaborative initiatives that support the community’s aim of functionally ending homelessness in the coming years’

A good portion of city council’s attention at Tuesday’s (Sept. 2) meeting was devoted to housing and homelessness initiatives and funding.
Which meant Danielle Neilson, Housing Stability Services Manager, fielded a significant number of questions from the mayor and council.
She authored the St. Thomas-Elgin 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan: 2024 Progress Report, which sees city staff and community partners “work together on highly collaborative initiatives that support the community’s aim of functionally ending homelessness in the coming years.”
We briefly touched on this report last week regarding the city’s emergency shelter, The INN.

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08.30.25
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Sustainable public safety in St. Thomas will require both human and financial investments

Recent funding investments by the Police Services Board and the City of St. Thomas “are producing tangible results in reducing crime and social disorder” in the community.
That’s according to information provided to the board for the July meeting by St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp.
His board report cautions, however, “It is essential that future budgets reflect the operational requirements of our police services and support a responsible path forward.”
The concern is what impact a growing population and overcoming the residual effects of several years of fiscal restraint and conservative budgeting encouraged by the city will have on the 2026 police service budget.
The St. Thomas Police Service is certainly operating in lean fashion when compared to similar-sized police departments, particularly when you look at the cost per capita of delivering services.

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