Toronto set to activate Winter Services Plan this week for those experiencing homelessness – Beach Metro Community News

By AMARACHI AMADIKE

On an average night this year, Toronto’s Central Intake officially receives 223 calls from individuals who are denied access to shelter beds.

As the weather becomes less forgiving, and outreach workers sound the alarm that the statistics understate the severity of Toronto’s homelessness crisis,  city officials are now shifting some of their attention to ensuring those experiencing homelessness have somewhere to turn to during extreme weather conditions.

With the recently announced Winter Services Plan, officials said they are increasing the city’s homelessness crisis response by expanding the current stock of temporary shelter spaces with an additional 530 beds.

“Homelessness is a crisis affecting people in Toronto and across the country, and everyone deserves a place to call home,” said city spokesperson Elise von Scheel in a recent email statement to Beach Metro Community News.

The 2024/2025 Winter Service Plan also includes the much sought after 24/7 respite services that housing advocates pleaded for during last year’s warming centre debates.

Although city councillors opted to open one such respite service last year, they warned the federal government that $5 million in funding was needed to continue the services this year following city staff’s report which stated running one respite centre at all hours would cost $400,000 for a single month.

Their request was fulfilled by the federal government who announced funding for the Better living Centre at Exhibition Place which created additional spaces for refugees and asylum seekers. This winter, thanks to a multi-year leasing agreement, the Better Living Centre will once again play a vital role in sheltering Toronto’s most vulnerable population during cold nights.

“We’re also continuing to build out the shelter system by investing in the Homelessness Services Capital Infrastructure Strategy and expanding the Refugee House model to provide shelter and housing services that best meet the diverse needs of different people,” said Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee Councillor Alejandra Bravo in an Oct. 22 news release.

In addition to progress made by securing 24/7 respite services and creating 200 new spaces in refugee houses that provide support and connections to settlement services for newcomers, the city also announced that four warming centres will become available across Toronto.

The warming centres, comprising 218 spaces, will be open on days when temperatures dip below minus five degrees Celsius “or when Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a winter weather event warning”.

This is an increase from the 170 spaces available at warming centres last year, according to Toronto’s General Manager of Shelter and Support Services Gord Tanner who spoke at a Winter Service Plan news conference on Oct. 22.

With another 164 spaces available for surge capacity – which includes an additional Warming Centre that will come online when the weather reaches minus 15 degrees Celsius – the city will activate a total of about 1,200 shelter and housing spaces between Friday, Nov.15, 2024 and Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025.

According to the City of Toronto, additional street outreach teams will also be dispatched during extreme cold weather to encourage people to come indoors.

However, even with the additional spaces which include 286 new supportive homes, critics argue the city’s efforts are insufficient for Toronto’s current needs.

The announced Warming Centres, which aim to provide a resting space, access to meals, and emergency shelter referrals, for example, are sparse, mainly located in the downtown area (136 Spadina Rd., 75 Elizabeth St. and 58 Cecil St.) with just one location in North York (12 Holmes Ave.), and all of Scarborough also having a single location (885 Scarborough Golf Club Rd.).

There was no location announced in the Beaches-East York area. This leaves those who arrive at a full Warming Centre in Scarborough with a long journey downtown for another chance at warm shelter. However, according to the city, should someone arrive at a Warming Centre that is full, “staff will arrange for transportation to another site that has capacity.”

In an email statement to Beach Metro Community News, the city highlighted that more than 130 properties have been examined as potential Warming Centres. But no concrete commitment has been made for the addition of more spaces as the city says that the winter response “may evolve based on demand and availability of appropriate locations”.

According to statistics, however, demand for additional warming spaces is soaring. Reports suggest that there are 12,200 people in Toronto experiencing homelessness this year, a 14 per cent increase from the 10,700 people reported in 2023.

Of this number, 9,500 of those experiencing homelessness are in the city’s overflowing shelters while about 2,600 are sheltered in hotels.

Although Toronto’s shelter system already costs $780 million annually, with homelessness trending upwards, von Scheel said more investment is needed to keep up with the crisis’ needs.

“We recognize more needs to be done,” said von Scheel. “The Winter Services Plan is one element to address immediate needs while work continues on long-term solutions like improving the shelter system and building more housing.”

At the Oct. 10 Toronto Council session, councillors voted unanimously in favour of Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie’s motion to officially declare support for the Ontario Big City Mayors’ (OBCM) Solve The Crisis campaign – a call to action for Ontario’s government to change its strategy in battling addiction and homelessness.

The OBCM’s demands included appointing a responsible ministry and cabinet minister “with the appropriate funding and powers” to be the single point of contact to address the full spectrum of Ontario’s housing needs and mental health support.

They also urged Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government to provide resources for municipalities to transition people living in encampments to more appropriate supports “when deemed necessary” while also investing in 24/7 Crisis Centres to relieve pressures faced by emergency centres and first responders. So far, nothing has come of the recommendations.