Toronto police evicted a homeless man Wednesday morning from the shack under the Gardiner Expressway he has lived in for eight years.

Officers carried the man, who calls himself Chris "Gardiner," out of his makeshift home to allow construction workers to begin their work on the pillars that hold up the expressway above.

Chris, 44, has refused the city's offers of a low-rent apartment and subsidized housing, saying he wants to live in his "three-room house" near the Spadina Avenue off-ramp.

He said he doesn't believe in the rights of landlords to charge rent.

There was a strong police presence at the eviction scene because about 30 anti-poverty activists showed up to support Chris' fight.

Many protesters were escorted from the area by police.

It is not known where Chris has been taken or where he will now live.

He has said he makes $35 to $50 a week returning empty beer bottles and finding loose change.

His home included pieces of furniture and wood, a sink with no running water and a light bulb, radio and hand-held TV powered by the same battery.

Chris said the city tore down his previous home at the same spot in 2002.

He came to Toronto from Montreal after dropping out of high school. He held previous jobs as a busboy, delivery truck unloader and tree cutter, but is now unemployed.

The city's Streets into Homes outreach program and other agencies have been working with the homeless people under the Gardiner from Spadina to Bathurst Street, where construction is scheduled, to find them a place to live before work crews move in.