A Better Tent City in Kitchener to dissolve, Working Centre takes over

A Better Tent City is headed for a major handoff in Kitchener: the volunteer-run nonprofit will wind down on Monday, July 20, 2026, and The Working Centre will take over operations at the tiny-home village on Ardelt Avenue.

The change lands at a critical moment for one of Ontario’s best-known tiny-home communities. ABTC currently has 42 tiny homes and cabins and houses about 50 people, with shared cooking, eating and washroom facilities that have long made it function more like a compact neighborhood than a conventional shelter. The Region of Waterloo says the immediate priority is the well-being and housing stability of the residents who already live there.

The project began in spring 2020, when Ron Doyle, owner of the former Lot 42 property, offered part of the land to volunteers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. What started as a stopgap has become a closely watched housing model in Kitchener, with the community built on land owned by the City of Kitchener and the Waterloo Region District School Board. The city extended the land-use license agreement on Oct. 17, 2023, keeping the temporary site in place.

By late 2023, though, the volunteer structure was straining. ABTC asked the Region of Waterloo for annual funding and extra support for dedicated housing and security staff, a sign that the day-to-day work had grown beyond what volunteers could reliably carry. Jeff Willmer, the board chair, said the site had faced mounting health and safety challenges, including the loss of several key volunteers who had carried much of the operational load. In that context, the nonprofit’s board said the project could no longer continue in its current form.

The pressure was not abstract. In April 2026, a fire damaged three homes at ABTC. Joe Mancini of The Working Centre also pointed to a shooting, a stabbing and a recent suspected arson as part of the safety environment around the site. Police later laid charges in connection with a fatal shooting there in November 2024.

The Working Centre said in May 2026 that it would assess site needs and conditions during the transition period before assuming control. The organization already runs other low-barrier shelter and housing supports in Kitchener and says it helps residents connect with housing opportunities and health care. That makes this more than an administrative handoff. It is a stress test for the tiny-home model itself, showing how quickly a resident community can depend on stable staffing, firmer rules and closer site oversight once the volunteer bench runs thin.