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Ontario municipalities say there were 1,400 encampments last year and the City of Windsor is not immune.

“I was quite shocked to see there were 1,400 encampments in Ontario,” said Andrew Daher, Windsor’s Commissioner of Human Services.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has released results of a 2023 survey of cities and towns in the province, touching on the rise of encampments.

Windsor reported two encampments during the survey year, but now the city estimates there are between eight and ten encampments.

“It ebbs and flows,” Daher said. “You will see more encampments during the spring and summer months, but usually during the winter months two, maximum three.”

According to the city, the encampments are not dangerous and some have no more than three or four people.

“We have our outreach workers going out there to have a conversation with them, trying to connect them back into the …