No More Shelter Beds in Cobourg, Mayor Says

In City Hall, Local

(Today’s Northumberland file photo)

By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
At a special council meeting Tuesday, February 25, Cobourg Mayor Lucas Cleveland will present a notice of motion calling on Northumberland County to “halt the expansion of emergency shelter capacity in Cobourg.”

The motion the mayor will put forward calls for equitable distribution of emergency shelter beds and support services across all seven Northumberland municipalities.

It begins with a statement of the town’s “long demonstrated leadership in supporting individuals experiencing homelessness by hosting the majority of emergency shelter beds and related support services within Northumberland County.” Nevertheless, it continued, “the concentration of emergency shelter services in Cobourg has placed a disproportionate burden on the town’s resources, infrastructure and emergency services.”

The motion declares homelessness “a regional issue that requires a fair and equitable distribution of shelter beds and support services across all municipalities” – all of whom, it added, “have a shared responsibility to provide emergency shelter services and to support unhoused individuals in their own communities.”

Such a move, the motion continued, “would ensure that all communities contribute to addressing homelessness while alleviating pressure on any single municipality.”

The motion then calls on the county to establish no additional emergency shelter beds in the Town of Cobourg “until such time as shelter beds and related support services equitably distributed across all municipalities within the county.”

And until such equity is achieved, the motion says, council calls upon the county to halt the expansion of emergency shelter capacity in Cobourg.

This notice of motion is last on the agenda of the 1 p.m. special council meeting.

It will be considered in open session, following the first part of the meeting held in closed session to consider a matter that qualifies for such treatment under the Municipal Act.

Anyone tuning in to the live stream will see a Closed Session screen while this part of the meeting is in session, with the open-session portion beginning once that business is concluded.

Cecilia Nasmith
Author: Cecilia Nasmith

Join Our Newsletter!

Want to keep up to date on news and events in Northumberland? Subscribe to newsletter!

You may also read!

In My Opinion – Is It Really That Difficult for Cobourg Police to Keep The Public Informed?

So many questions - like always with the Cobourg Police Service. And also like always, little to no communication to

Read More...

St. Thomas Police – Two Suspects Wanted for Multiple Distraction Thefts

As a result of an investigation by the St Thomas Police Services’ Property Crime Unit, in collaboration with the

Read More...

Update – Cobourg Police (Finally) Issue Press Release Concerning Lottery Tickets

https://todaysnorthumberland.ca/2025/09/13/video-suspect-walks-away-with-hundreds-of-dollars-in-stolen-lottery-tickets/ Three days after Today’s Northumberland released information and nearly two weeks after it happened, Cobourg Police have issued a

Read More...

Mobile Sliding Menu