Halifax closing Cogswell Park encampment site

The municipality says people living at an encampment in Cogswell Park have until September 21 to leave the site.

Halifax staff say the encampment is being de-designated because of its proximity to a new adult care facility now open at the corner of Robie Street and Quinpool Road.

The city says its policies prohibit sheltering within 50 metres of an adult care facility.

People sleeping rough at Cogswell Park are being offered resources and supports, including moving people and their belongings to indoor shelter and other housing options.

Staff say as of Aug. 15, there were 75 tents and four trailers in the remaining designated encampments around the Halifax area.

Cogswell Park was one of nine sites the municipality chose to designate as tenting locations last year as the city grapples with an increasing number of unhoused people. The other locations include Bayers Road, Windsor Street Park, BiHi Park, Chain Lake Park, Glebe Street Park, Halifax Common berm and Point Pleasant Park on the peninsula, and Bissett Road Park and the Geary Street green space across the harbour in Dartmouth.

This is not the first time a Halifax councillor has tried to de-designate encampment locations. In December 2024, Mayor Andy Fillmore proposed a motion that sought to rescind the list of nine designated locations. That motion was narrowly defeated 8-7.

Premier Tim Houston has also expressed his discontent with some of the designated tenting locations.

The latest Point-in-Time Count, undertaken in November 2024, identified a minimum of 1,132 people experiencing homelessness across the municipality.

With files from Rachel Morgan, CityNews