The City of Toronto is closing the door on unhoused people in the city this winter, say advocates.
With an average of 187 people turned away daily from the city’s shelter system, the recent closure of the Novotel shelter-hotel on The Esplanade and the decommissioning of three other sites by the end of this year as well as the ongoing threat to clear encampments, not to mention the lack of drop-in programs and other essential services for the city’s most vulnerable residents, those who directly support people experiencing homelessness as well as those at risk of losing their homes say they are extremely worried.
“This winter is going to be horrific. It’s a crisis situation,” said Kim Curry, the executive director of Seeds of Hope, a downtown Toronto-based charity that provides a range of programs, services, and housing options for people experiencing systemic barriers.
“There’s just nowhere for people to stay. … I don’t think people understand how serious this is.”
For several years, Seeds of Hope has raised funds and collected donations to place some of the city’s most vulnerable unhoused people in temporary indoor spaces during the coldest months of the year. Curry said they’ll no doubt be doing the same thing again this winter.
“People are out in the freezing cold with nowhere to go. They can’t get into a shelter, even if they wanted to,” she said, adding that many unhoused people and those at risk of becoming homeless are seniors and those with physical and mental disabilities who rely on social assistance.
“We’re encountering people in wheelchairs with a colostomy bag who can’t get into a shelter.”
Curry said recently there’s been a notable emergence of refugee families losing their homes. Many people who have never been unhoused before are on the street as the rising cost of rent and food become unsustainable, she noted.
“Anyone could be in this situation. These are people who could lose their children. ... Many of these people have no addictions, but they end up having to make choices that are unfair to survive,” she said, adding that individuals in all kinds of dire situations, some of whom are left with no option but to get into sex trafficking to get by, are reaching out for help.
“It is heartbreaking all of it, honestly,” shared Curry, whose phone rings off the hook every day with calls from people in crisis pleading for emergency assistance.
“As a society, we have to do better. … It makes no sense to make people suffer so much. It’s inhumane.”
Long-time advocate Rafi Aaron, of The Interfaith Coalition to Fight Homelessness, said he foresees a “brutal winter” as many unhoused individuals will ultimately find themselves in remote ravines and wooded areas this winter, far away from the programs and services that help keep them alive.
Aaron, who is the co-coordinator of St. Luke's Out of the Cold meal program, said it’s a constant “scramble” to respond to the great need the city is seeing as of late.
He said with next to no options left, outreach workers and volunteers are trying their best to meet people’s basic needs by providing them with warm clothing, blankets, tents, meals, coffee and fast food cards, and harm reduction supplies.
“There’s nowhere for people to go. There’s never been this many people out there and so few spaces,” he said, noting this crisis will come to a head when the city sees its first significant cold snap and unhoused people freeze to death and/or experience severe weather-related injuries.
“It’s never been more difficult or challenging. It’s just overwhelming. This is a horrendous situation,” Aaron said.
Susan Bender, manager of the Toronto Drop-In Network (TDIN), said she too has never seen such a crisis facing the city’s most vulnerable residents.
She called what’s happening to unhoused people in Toronto “devastating.”
“The shelter hotels are closing. There’s not enough shelter spaces,” she said, adding that the criminalization and heavy-handed policing of homelessness are not helping the situation.
“We need the city to really commit to addressing the overdose, housing, and homelessness crises that folks are facing. That’s got to be the top priority. … We cannot treat people like they’re disposable.”
Bender said many of TDIN’s 50 member organizations are struggling to keep up with the demand as more and more people find themselves in precarious situations.
“Many drop-ins have a lot of challenges with funding. It is becoming more and more expensive to run drop-ins,” she said, noting the city’s recent open call for funding for homeless support programs has put many of her member organizations in a precarious place as they could face losing the funding the rely on.
“I think clearly there’s not enough funding that has been put into these organizations. … We’ve always been an incredibly underfunded sector.”
Keeping good, qualified staff is another major hurdle, Bender added, as many who work in the not-for-profit sector aren’t paid enough for the taxing – yet often life-saving - work they do and tend to burn out.
In a statement provided to CP24.com, Gord Tanner, Toronto’s general manager of Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA), outlined several ways the City of Toronto is supporting unhoused and at-risk individuals this winter.
He said currently Toronto’s shelter system is accommodating more than 8,300 people nightly, which Tanner said is “more people than it ever has before.”
He did admit that despite “continually adding new beds,” the city’s shelters are at capacity most nights.
"The emergency shelter system plays an important role in supporting the health and wellness of those experiencing homelessness, but its intended purpose is to provide short-term accommodation for people. Adding additional beds to the system is a temporary emergency solution that is not sustainable,” he said, underlining that the “solution to homelessness is permanent housing with supports.”
Tanner said more funding is needed from all levels of government for more health services, including crisis beds and harm reduction services, for people experiencing homelessness as well as income supports such as Ontario Works benefits and Ontario Disability Support Program rates, to ensure individuals have the means to cover individual shelter and basic needs. He noted the city anticipates more than 400 new permanent affordable rental housing units with supports will be available for occupancy throughout the upcoming winter season.
“These homes will be prioritized for people experiencing homelessness who are staying in emergency shelters or living outdoors," he said.
On Nov. 7, the city released its latest Winter Services Plan, which includes the creation of 1,000 new spaces through expanded shelter capacity and new permanent affordable rental housing with supports.
“Combined with existing capacity, the new spaces will allow the City to provide emergency shelter and new housing units for more than 9,000 people in need this winter season,” Tanner said, noting that frontline staff and community partners are also providing street outreach services, peer supports, harm reduction and health services, and working with people to develop plans to secure permanent housing.
"The Winter Plan is designed to be adaptive and respond to changing needs, as required throughout the winter. City staff will continue to explore opportunities to secure additional sites across the city to maximize spaces available for those in need.”
He also said that since announcing the plan, city staff have been working to secure additional sites to serve as warming centres. As it stands, there are two sites with a total of 60 spaces. Tanner said a third location will be announced shortly, while negotiations on a fourth warming centre are “ongoing.”
