Saint John City council

October 22 2026

Saint John sees progress in homelessness but challenges remain

Katherine Del Salto News Homelessness, Housing For All Strategy, New Brunswick, Saint John, Saint John City council

An update on Saint John’s homeless strategy shows the city still has some work to do.

Council reviewed the update on its Housing for All Strategy at Monday’s meeting, which showed fewer encampments.

However, community development manager Greg Cutler told council the inflow of homelessness has not stopped.

“The number is slowly coming down, but you know, it’s work we do every day and need to keep working harder on a few people who for whatever reason, they to tend to find their way back to the red zone,” he said.

Red zones, which include areas near parks and schools, are areas where encampments or other temporary structures are not permitted. Yellow zones are areas of the city where homeless encampments are permitted, while Green zones are designated for government-supported transitional housing.

According to the report, staff have reduced the number of encampments in red zones from 25 September 2025 to six today.

The data also show that between Sept. 23, 2025, and Oct. 13, 2026, staff relocated 100 encampments, conducted 70 cleanups, and engaged in 518 outreach engagements with clients.

Five encampments remain in yellow zones, unchanged from the last update in July, with three deemed compliant.

In addition, 48 of the 66 housing units located within the province’s three designated green zones are now occupied.

However, Culter said there are still “challenging situations” that require work, as individuals continue to return to red zones, cautioning council that the situation can change daily.

Council also heard concerns about a significant increase in chronic homelessness, including figures indicating that 82 people entered homelessness over the summer and another 36 returned to homelessness.

Meanwhile, the Human Development Council latest report on the state of homelessness in the city is from September, and it indicated 578 people experienced homelessness for at least one day of the month, while 321 experienced chronic homelessness.

Coun. Eric Savoie acknowledged the city’s progress, particularly over the summer with supportive and affordable housing, but said more solutions are required.

“We can’t take our foot off the pedal around affordable and supportive housing, but as well, understanding that there are some folks with some really complex needs on our streets,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ve quite wrapped our heads around what the solutions are for those who need help.”

Savoie also shared concerns about the council’s lack of control over all the aspects of the continuum of care.

He emphasized the need to understand, at a system level, how resources are tracked and secured relative to community capacity.

Council also heard an update on efforts to strengthen provincial coordination of homelessness services.

Lisa Kennedy, the city’s director of external relations, said initial discussions with provincial officials have been positive, with additional representatives identified for further meetings.

She said scheduling difficulties have delayed those discussions, but Oct. 27 has been proposed as a meeting date.

Cutler said staff will continue to work on the more challenging cases through community agency Fresh Start.

August 23 2026

Saint John council advances proposed Hyatt hotel development

Katherine Del Salto News hotel, Hyatt Hotel, municipal government, New Brunswick, Saint John Airport, Saint John City council

Saint John Council has approved the first steps toward a proposed hotel development on the city’s east side that could become the closest hotel to Saint John Airport.

Council gave the project first and second readings during Monday’s meeting.

The proposal calls for a five-storey Hyatt hotel at 615-631 Loch Lomond Rd. If it receives final approval at a third reading, expected at the next council meeting, the hotel would be located about 25 minutes from the airport, making it the closest hotel to the facility.

Ontario-based Lakeview Development is proposing the project in partnership with Hyatt Hotels.

Hyatt is a U.S.-based hospitality company that owns, manages, and franchises hotels, resorts, and all-inclusive properties in more than 80 countries.

Last month, the planning advisory committee approved a partial rezoning of the property from mid-rise residential to business park to allow for the hotel development. The committee also approved a variance to permit the creation of a lot without street frontage, facilitating a subdivision of the property.

The committee recommended council require the developer to pay $25,000 toward traffic-related improvements.

At the planning advisory committee meeting, Lakeview Development CFO Umar Mehmood said the project would operate under Hyatt Studios, the company’s extended-stay hotel brand. The concept offers guests self-service amenities and in-room features while maintaining Hyatt’s standard guest experience.

During Monday’s council meeting, Coun. Paul Dempsey raised concerns about the project’s potential effect on traffic.

City staff said a traffic impact study found existing level-of-service concerns at nearby intersections but concluded the hotel is not expected to significantly affect traffic operations in the area.

No construction timeline was mentioned in the meeting.

Council voted unanimously to advance the project.

May 7 2026

Proposed youth council could boost teen involvement in Saint John politics

Katherine Del Salto News mayor Donna Reardon, municipal politics, Saint John City council, teens, youth, youth council

A project presented to Saint John’s city council could encourage more youth to participate in municipal politics.

At Monday’s meeting, Harbour View High School student Kyle Jacquard proposed the creation of a youth council.

A youth council is a formal group of young people designed to provide advice, perspectives and input to governing bodies, organizations or issues affecting a community.

Jacquard came up with the idea alongside classmate Keegan Doiron, who was not present for the presentation.

He said the initiative was born as a project for his Grade 10 civics class, which required students to complete a civic act in their communities as part of the course.

Jacquard said he and Doiron decided to develop the project to provide an “outlet” for youth interested in learning about government after noticing a lack of engagement from younger people in Saint John municipal politics.

Jacquard added that the council could allow kids to have a voice in what happens in the municipality.

“It can do a lot of good,” he said. “It can do a great deal to a city or a community to allow them to build together, to allow youngsters to build together.”

Jacquard took inspiration from other cities that have youth councils, including Fredericton, Moncton and Grand Bay–Westfield.

He proposed the council be composed of youth at least in Grade 9 with leadership qualities, a willingness to work in a team environment and an interest in community engagement.

He said the council could be implemented by distributing applications to schools, organizing an information event to explain how the council would work, and setting up a voting or raffle system through the schools to select representatives.

Councillors reacted positively to the presentation.

Coun. Greg Stewart praised Jacquard for choosing a youth council as his class project and said it gives him “hope for the future.”

Coun. Gary Sullivan said the project could also help prevent young people from leaving the city by giving them more input in what happens locally.

Sullivan also suggested extending the project to include university students, with representation from the University of New Brunswick Saint John campus politics society.

While the next council will decide whether to implement the project, Mayor Donna Reardon said “it makes sense to have the voice of the future to be at the table to a certain extent.”