Razor wire installed around Toronto military facility sparks concerns among locals

A Canadian Forces facility in Toronto has amped up its military appearance with rows of razor wire, sparking concerns and discomfort among some locals.

Toronto’s Moss Park Armoury was the rather sudden recipient of new razor wire installations on fences surrounding the military facility in late July, and a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence is citing repeated “intrusions” as the cause.

Photos of the new fortifications around the armoury have sparked questions about the ethics and even legality of such an area-denial method (which inflicts far more damage on would-be fence-climbers than standard barbed wire) being used in an urban setting.

Several commenters chimed in online, questioning if razor wire is even permitted by the City.

According to Chapter 447 of the Toronto Municipal Code, “No barbed wire, chicken wire or other barbed or sharp material shall be used in any fence unless the fence is permitted by Subsection B to exceed 2.5 metres in height and the barbed or sharp material is installed at a height of not less than 2.5 metres on metal brackets inclined towards the enclosed area at an angle of 45 degrees.”

The fences pictured surrounding the Moss Park Armoury do not appear to adhere to these requirements, though it is unclear if federal properties are subject to these municipal regulations.

blogTO has reached out to the City of Toronto for comment on the legality of the razor wire installation.

A spokesperson for Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND) tells blogTO that the new measures were installed in response to “intrusions into its perimeter over the last year which posed safety and security risks to Canadian Armed Forces members, civilian DND employees and Cadets using the Moss Park Armoury facilities, and to DND equipment and materials located on the premises.”

“After consultations and risk assessments were conducted, it was determined that the installation of a concertina wire on the perimeter fence would be a sufficient deterrence measure to prevent further incidents.”

The DND spokesperson states that “since the wire was installed in late July 2024, there has been no intrusion reported.”

While some expressed concerns, the majority of commenters defended the decision to outfit the armoury with razor wire.

The fencing installation is not the first time the military facility has been at odds with neighbourhood’s high population of unhoused and people experiencing substance and mental health issues.

The most shocking case came in 2005, when two reservists beat a sleeping homeless man to death in the adjacent Moss Park after drinking at a function at the armoury. Brian Deganis and Jeffery Hall were sentenced to just a combined 15 years of prison time for this crime.

In contrast, the military facility has also welcomed the unhoused and functioned as an emergency shelter.

In early 2018, then-mayor John Tory approached the federal government requesting city staff be permitted to operate the Moss Park Armoury as a temporary shelter, which was granted by the feds two days later.