William Fleet says a letter from Halifax Regional Municipality telling him he can no longer spend winters in his RV in Dartmouth’s Shubie Park has left him scrambling.

“A lot of us gonna be in a hurting situation come next fall,” lamented the 64-year-old, who said he is forced to get by on a fixed income of $900 a month.

“You try living with that,” he said. “I couldn’t afford an apartment if I wanted to.”

Shubie Campground, within the municipally owned Dartmouth property, is the only fully serviced campground within city limits. Three years ago, the municipality announced the site would remain open over the winter for people living in RVs with no traditional housing, with the city providing electricity, snow removal, garbage collection and sewage services, and the people staying there paying $250 per month in rent.

But this year will be the last, according to the letter, and Fleet said he does not know where he can go with his RV.

The letter said the program was always intended to be temporary “to bridge individuals to both temporary and permanent housing options.”

CBC News reached out to Coun. Tony Mancini, whose Dartmouth district includes the campground, but did not receive a response prior to publication.

Paul Chiasson, who has spent winters in Shubie Park since the program began, was also disappointed by the news. 

Injured and unable to work, he said he survives on a fixed income of about $1,000 a month, which makes an RV his only housing option. 

“It’d be impossible for me to get an apartment because first off, they want a deposit, which I wouldn’t be able to put up,” said Chiasson. 

He said he is lucky to have found an alternative place to stay in a campground in Canning, N.S., over an hour away from the city. But he worries about his neighbours. 

“This is the most campers we’ve had. So there is definitely a growing need for it and it’s really unfortunate the city can’t find a way to keep it going,” he said. 

The program was partially funded by the province’s Department of Opportunities and Social Development. In the past, the province provided $180,000 to cover operating costs. 

Even after a lifetime of working, Fleet said, the housing crisis is hitting older Canadians like himself harder. 

“I’ve never seen so many tents,” he said. “Why there’s so many homeless and so much of this and so much of that, yet you’re supposed to be better off, farther ahead?”

While residents in the program have always been required to vacate the park for the summer season, Fleet had hoped to return in the fall. Now he needs to move at the end of the month to a summer campground and look for something else in the winter. 

The letter to RV residents provided connections to specialists to help them navigate their situation.

“We wanted to advise you of this change now to ensure you are able to actively pursue alternate shelter and housing options,” the letter says.

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