Toronto’s 2025 People of the Year: Maggie Helwig, Canada Reviews

The advocate | Maggie Helwig

Maggie Helwig wrote the Toronto Book Award-winning Encampment, documenting the lives of unhoused individuals and the homelessness crisis in Toronto, and fought to protect the encampment in her church’s backyard

By Sook-Yin Lee — musician, director, actor and Kensington Market resident

Mother Maggie Helwig is the coolest person in Toronto. I told her myself, years ago, and she found it amusing. Mother Maggie advocates for human rights, most recently assisting unhoused individuals in an encampment at St. Stephen’s in the Field Church, which the city demolished. Despite obstacles, her care is boundless. When I was going through difficulty, her church welcomed me, despite my not being Christian. During a service, I witnessed an astonishing de-escalation of violence, as a man, plagued by mental anguish, burst in and spat on the altar while shouting obscenities. Instead of backing away, Mother Maggie asked how she might help, while Leroy Niles, an outstanding church member, listened with compassion, and I observed the rage fade from the man’s expression. Mother Maggie dares to reimagine the church as a space for provocative engagement. Poet, writer and disruptor, she sheds light on our shortcomings and motivates us to unite to improve our shared experience.