The Loop before its closure (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

DAY SPACE NEEDS

New data highlights need for day space on Tranquille corridor

May 22, 2025 | 4:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — New reporting from Kamloops Fire Rescue, Kamloops RCMP and City of Kamloops Community Service Officers is painting a better picture of where the bulk of emergency calls are coming from. At the direction of city council, the report now breaks down calls specific to four corridors within the community, including Victoria Street, Valleyview and the North Shore.

The Tranquille corridor led the way in calls for service, leading the Safety and Security Select Committee to begin discussing the need for a day space on the North Shore.

Last year, ‘The Loop’ was forced to close its doors, leaving the North Shore without a dedicated day space for those experiencing homelessness. Now the city is seeing trends pointing to the need to re-establish a similar service.

“You are probably seeing a large increase in calls for service in the Tranquille corridor. I’ll just kind of break those down a little bit. We received 736 calls for service in 2025. Of that, 231 were self-generated,” stated Will Beatty, Community Services Manager.

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The Tranquille corridor, while longer than other monitored stretches, presented much higher numbers of engagement with city services.

“What are we doing currently to kind of shift the model, to make sure we have the resources there? Because it truly is a struggle on that corridor, both from a staffing perspective and then for those businesses and residents who exist along there,” said Katie Neustaeter, Safety and Security Select Committee Chair.

While the city did recently open the Pathways access hub on the North Shore, it does not provide a day space.

“A day space would, obviously, be very much warranted in this area,” said Beatty. “It’s very difficult to have folks in this corridor to just move along and not have a space for them to go.”

“Not having that space there on the North Shore is going to allow those people to flow out and then start to go into those old habits of finding nooks, finding entranceways to shelter in or to accumulate in. We need to look for a longer term strategy,” added Kamloops Fire Rescue Chief and Director of Protective Services Ken Uzeloc.

The process of looking to open a day space will not be quick. First and foremost, a location will need to be found, followed by extensive consultation.

“If we are going to do this, it has to been done in partnership,” said Carmin Mazzotta, Assistant Community and Culture Director. “Given how challenging day spaces can be, I think it has to be done in partnership. At this point, there isn’t an identified site that a partnership has endorsed or spoken to.”