F.1 Community Safety & Wellbeing Implementation Program Update
Staff presented a first-year update on the plan, which began in July 2025 alongside a new Community Safety and Wellbeing Partnerships Department. They reported that 38 of the plan’s first 50 actions are underway or operational, while the remaining 12 are being explored. Reported work included reconnecting 17 Indigenous people with family, culture or home communities; youth programs reaching more than 17,000 young people; 20 recovery homes at Johnson Manor; 34 beds at Bridge Street Pathways; 30 additional shelter beds at Rock Bay Landing; 13 sober-living shelter beds; and housing relocation support that has helped 75 people move indoors. The City also launched a $1 million grant program to renew nonprofit housing, added 14 waste bins in the Pandora corridor, hired 12 bylaw officers, and funded nine additional Victoria Police officers. In questions, staff estimated 180–210 people are unsheltered in the city, including about 100 in and around Pandora, and said demand for housing and shelter remains greater than available spaces. They described metatomidine, now present in the local drug supply, as a serious added health challenge; naloxone reverses only the opioid component of mixed-drug poisonings. Staff said park sheltering structures are down about 65 percent year over year, but gathering better information about people’s needs takes time and relationship-building. They expect a community cleanup pilot later in 2026 and said the positive-transfer program is going to procurement. Staff also said they will report back on housing retention, historical shelter and supportive-housing numbers, other governments’ advocacy priorities, and the possibility of a real-time bylaw phone response. No recommendation or vote on the plan itself was presented.
- Staff and councillors described homelessness, toxic drug harms and community safety as complex problems that require coordination across governments, health services, housing providers and community organisations.
- There is an ongoing need for more housing and shelter, and Victoria cannot meet the regional demand on its own.
- Prevention, along with pathways from harm reduction through detox, recovery housing and longer-term housing, was identified as important to helping people avoid or leave homelessness.
- More useful reporting is needed, including data on housing retention, shelter and supportive-housing capacity, and outcomes over time.
- Staff and councillors recognised Johnson Manor’s recovery housing as a valuable addition, while noting that demand for this type of housing is high.
- A councillor cited a security provider’s view that drug decriminalisation and other government policies had worsened safety. Another councillor argued that similar drug-death trends across North America point to broader forces rather than local or provincial policies.
- A councillor raised concerns about the effects of decriminalisation and asked how service providers reconcile differing views on drug policy. Staff declined to speak for those providers, while one staff member said the severity of the current drug supply makes expanded detox and recovery options important.