The city has leased the Novotel hotel on the Esplanade and will use the facility as an emergency shelter for the rest of the year.

The city has opened more than 40 temporary shelter sites since the COVID-19 pandemic began as part of an effort to ensure physical distancing in the shelter system.

Twenty five of those locations remain active, providing nearly 2,300 additional shelter spaces.

In a message posted to its website on Friday afternoon, the city said that the Novotel site located at 45 The Esplanade has been leased to act as a “temporary shelter hotel.”

They say that the lease goes until December 2021 “with the potential for extension as public health guidance changes.”

“Part of the new model for this shelter on The Esplanade that will open later this month is that it is not just a shelter where people sleep. In fact, there are a wrap-around suite of services on site to care for people who are homeless,” Coun. Joe Cressy told CP24. “There will be a clinic on site providing primary health care alongside mental health supports and housing referral workers and outreach workers on site to help people not just sleep at night but transition out of homelessness. In that sense this is more than an emergency response to COVID, it is part of creating a pathway for people out of homelessness.”

The city has frequently used hotels for temporary shelter facilities throughout the pandemic but some of the sites have upset local residents.

This past summer there were a number of protests held after several violent incidents occurred at a temporary shelter at the old Roehampton Hotel in midtown Toronto.

Following those protests, Mayor John Tory and Coun. Josh Matlow wrote an open letter to city staff asking that additional measures be taken to address safety concerns in the neighbourhood, including regular “sweeps of local school grounds for items, including needles.”

“It is not an either or. It is not an either you take care of the most vulnerable or you have livable neighbourhoods. In fact it is both,” Cressy said, noting that there will be a “community liason” committee set up to partner with the surrounding neighbourhood. “It all comes down to ensuring you have a good model of care and that is what this place on The Esplanade is all about.”

The shelter site at the Novotel will be operated by Homes First Society. It is set to open on Feb. 22.