Clusters of homeless people camped on the edge of the rail trail east of the Wentworth stairs are a curiosity for passing cyclists and dog walkers.

But the escarpment squatters are also seen by some as a symptom of a rental market that’s increasingly out of reach for the city’s poorest residents.

The summer has been notable for a greater presence of people sleeping rough at parks and other urban patches of land.

“We know 100 per cent that it is a result of our out-of-control housing market,” Sara Mayo, of the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC), said Tuesday.

The SPRC has found Hamilton’s private rental market is rising more fiercely than the Ontario rate, said Mayo, who is a social planner.

“We know that this leads to negative consequences for people of all incomes, and most severely for people of low incomes. They have the least options.”

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The causes of homelessness are myriad and vary from person to person. They can range from the loss of a job, to an abusive relationship, drug addiction and mental illness.

“We got screwed over on a sublease,” said Stewart Ransom, who was minding a shopping cart on the dirt trail with his spouse, Laura Ritchie. “We had no choice but to leave.”

Ransom, 39, and Ritchie, 53, heard from a friend that people were living in the woods along the trail, so they headed over with their tent and dog, Joey. They’ve been there for nearly a week.

A special city-led task force is responding to an influx in calls about people sleeping rough in and around downtown over the past month. Whether the city’s homeless population is growing or just more visible as of late is difficult to tell.

“We don’t really know for sure that there are more homeless people than there were previously,” said Michelle Baird, a director in the city’s public health department.

In fact, a snapshot of Hamilton’s homeless population in April showed a decrease in numbers from the last time the “point-in-time” count was conducted. The most recent survey in April found 338 individuals — in addition to 48 families — reported being homeless, down about 25 per cent from 2016.

However, during warmer weather, more people typically sleep outdoors rather than in shelters. Activities such as panhandling require them to stick near major intersections.

Mayo recognizes the causes of homelessness are complex and people need help. However, Hamilton should also advocate for stronger renter-protection policies in Ontario, she said.

“To me, it’s fundamental that we start having this conversation on a broader level.”

A recent SPRC study comparing Hamilton to Quebec City found more than 12,000 private rental units had been added in Quebec’s capital since 2011, compared to fewer than 700 here.

“Evidence from Quebec indicates that stronger tenant protection policies have not deterred development of new rental housing, a myth often put forward by landlords,” concluded “Out of Control,” a local report published in June.

Hamilton and Quebec City, each with about 530,000 people, have similar dynamics when it comes to rental increases, including population growth, youth and new immigrants, the report notes.

It found Hamilton’s annual increase in average rent was 3.9 per cent from 2013-2017 compared to 1.5 per cent in Quebec City.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported Hamilton’s average rent was $934 in October 2017, compared to $890 the year before. An average one bedroom here rose to $843 from $810.

This is not the first time a large contingent of people sleeping rough has drawn widespread attention in Hamilton.

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Last summer, the city vacated a camp of homeless people at a municipally owned brownfield slated for development in the Barton-Tiffany corridor. Police escorted them off the property and an excavator cleared the land of junk and rubbish. Outreach workers helped find some of them housing.

This past spring, a contingent started to swell outside the Salvation Army on York Boulevard and neighbouring buildings. The presence coincided with a spate of drug overdoses in and around the men’s shelter.

The squatters sparked a multidisciplinary team of city, police, health and social work officials to strategize on how to find housing for those sleeping outside there.

“Since that task force has been so successful at the Salvation Army, we thought we should get them back at the table,” Coun. Jason Farr said earlier this week.

The Ward 2 councillor said he’s received calls about people sleeping outside in the downtown area as well as in the woods along the rail trail.

“I would suggest that they’re mostly concerned about those individuals and their well-being.”

But Farr noted some have complained about the “optics” of panhandlers, some aggressive, and “full-time squatting” at major downtown intersections. The issue is “sensitive” and must be addressed delicately, he said.

Baird said outreach workers are dispatched within 24 hours of receiving reports. Sometimes, it may take more than one visit to help people find a better place to sleep, she noted.

Some who sleep outside say they feel more secure in numbers on the street than in shelters.

“The shelters are full of drugs. They rob you,” Ransom said.

But proximity to services is also key.

“It’s just because it’s something close,” Ben Bailey said about why he chose to pitch a tent on the trail a few hundred metres from the Wentworth Street South access point.

Bailey said he has been there for a few weeks. The 31-year-old roofer says he hasn’t held a job for two years, but gets by on welfare and “odd things” such as collecting scrap metal.

Billy Case, another escarpment camper, said he slept on a grassy patch of land along Birch Avenue between Barton Street East and Burlington Street East before the rail trail. He also found a spot off the beach strip.

Police have told him to pack up his stuff and vacate soon, said Case, 37, who’s sharing a tent with his girlfriend. His dog, Mystery, stands guard to ward off intruders after dark.

“I’m kind of wondering where I’m going to next.”