Mayor Redekop Convenes Community Roundtable on Homelessness in Fort Erie

FORT ERIE, ON, August 25, 2026 – Mayor Wayne Redekop hosted the Mayor's Community Roundtable on Homelessness on Monday, August 24, 2026, at the Leisureplex Banquet Hall, bringing together about 50 invitees from among municipal leadership, service providers, and community partners to discuss homelessness and housing insecurity in Fort Erie.

The roundtable builds on six months of research led by Dr. Joanne Heritz of Brock University's Niagara Community Observatory, funded by the Niagara Community Foundation and conducted in partnership with CASA, a local transitional shelter for women and children experiencing housing insecurity. This research centres the lived expertise of Fort Erie community members who have experienced homelessness and housing insecurity firsthand. Today's discussion extends that work, inviting service providers, community partners, and the municipality to contribute honest, experience-based input that directly shapes the study's recommendations.

“Homelessness and housing insecurity are on the rise everywhere. As a community, we want our strategies, funding, and outcomes to be driven by real evidence and coordinated action. Solutions are always stronger when they are built ‘with’ affected communities, not ‘for’ them. Today isn't about arriving at final answers. It's about grounding our next steps in the evidence and realities of those doing this work every day and of those with lived experience.”
– Mayor Wayne Redekop

Purpose of the Roundtable

Organizations, nonprofits, and community collaborations directly involved in specifically addressing homelessness and housing insecurity in Fort Erie were invited to share knowledge and insights. The goal was straightforward: bring partners together to exchange ideas and take stock of what is happening across the sector, including the challenges being faced, the gaps that remain, and where there is room for closer collaboration going forward. Insights shared at the roundtable directly inform Brock University Niagara Community Observatory's research study on homelessness and housing insecurity in Fort Erie.

Who is participating?

Organizations closest to this work were invited to participate: local shelters and housing providers, groups delivering housing services on the ground, organizations supporting Fort Erie residents facing housing insecurity and homelessness, and representatives of the Town of Fort Erie's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Municipal leadership, funders, and staff from Niagara Region Homelessness Services also took part.

Why it matters

“This is about grounding Fort Erie’s next steps in real evidence, in the voices of those with lived experience and in the people from organizations doing this work every day, not making decisions in isolation.”
– Mayor Wayne Redekop

What was shared in these roundtable discussions will feed directly into Brock’s research study as evidence to help guide future strategies, funding priorities, and coordinated response to homelessness and housing insecurity in Fort Erie.

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