Unhoused encampment sets up next to pro-Palestinian protest camp on uOttawa campus

As a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Ottawa moves into its ninth week, an increasing number of tents being used by people experiencing homelessness have started to spring up nearby.

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Over the weekend, protesters escalated their encampment by moving closer to Tabaret Hall and setting up plywood barricades surrounding tents occupied by members of the pro-Palestinian encampment.

Organizers say it’s a move they hope it will put pressure on the institution to disclose and divest from their financial ties with Israel and to better protect demonstrators sleeping overnight.

"We've moved it over for mostly security purposes, but people are sleeping here," said Integrity Not Spite Against Falastin (INSAF) president Sumayya Kheireddine, one of the student organizations organizing the pro-Palestinian encampment.

"It's better security. It's surrounded."

In recent weeks, around a dozen tents set up by people experiencing homelessness has sprung up on the lawn, outside of the barricaded area set-up by protesters. Paul, an unhoused man from Toronto who only gave his first name, told CTV News Ottawa's Jackie Perez that he had had been sleeping there for the last two nights.

"Shelly, she, offered me a tent, so I kind of took up that offer, and that's where my home is right now," he said.

He says no one has asked him to leave as of yet.

"No one mentioned nothing to me. I had outreach housing say they were coming back to talk to me, hopefully get housing here," he said.

Barricades set up surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Ottawa. An encampment with people experiencing homelessness has set up nearby. (Jackie Perez/CTV News Ottawa)

Salvation Army spokesperson Glenn van Gulik told CTV News that outreach workers have been at the site providing unhoused individuals with assistance during the recent significant rain and heat events in the city and information on shelters nearby.

He says workers have been in contact with the university's security and protesters to inform them of their presence on site.

uOttawa has stayed tight-lipped about the pro-Palestinian encampment since protesters began setting up tents on May 1. The university has not responded to multiple requests by CTV News for comment on the status of negotiations with protesters.

Organizers said on Instagram that they rejected a proposal by uOttawa to end the encampment and disclose the entirety of its investments because it "was not engaging with our divestments demands in good faith."

"We are disappointed with this outcome and remain intent on working toward a resolution in the situation," uOttawa said in a news release to students on June 5, the last time the school made any statements on the encampment.

"The University upholds our foundational values of academic freedom and freedom of expression. Equally important is the right of every member of our community to be safe on our campuses. This remains our priority."

Organizers met with the university as recently as last week, though the institution's administration told them the school's pension fund has its own governance and pension committee. 

The encampment is part of a wave of similar protests seen across Canada denouncing Israel's offensive in Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. In recent weeks, many universities including McMaster University, the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia have dismantled encampments, often threatening legal action for protesters who do not willingly leave.