Advocates for people experiencing homelessness are calling on the city to stop clearing encampments and do more for Toronto’s most vulnerable unhoused residents as the cold weather takes hold.
Members of the Shelter and Housing Justice Network (SHJN), during a Tuesday morning press conference outside downtown’s Homeless Memorial, demanded that city council “stop the violence against encampment residents and protect our right to safe shelter.”
They want the city to immediately halt the eviction of encampment residents and stop confiscating survival gear, add an additional 2,700 non-congregate spaces to the shelter system, keep all existing shelter hotels open and keep warming centres that are currently only operational during extreme cold alerts open all winter long. They are also asking the provincial and federal governments to commit to building 100,000 rent geared-to-income social housing units in Toronto.
“The shortage of emergency shelter is the worst I have seen in over 15 years. People are sleeping in parks in the freezing cold because they have nowhere else to go. Tents and sleeping bags are resources needed to survive freezing temperatures,” long-time anti-poverty and housing advocate Rafi Aaron, of SHJN, said in a release.
“Displacing encampment residents and confiscating equipment is a violent and dangerous action that threatens the safety of those who are homeless.”
The SHJN said if something isn’t done now unhoused people out in the cold could die this winter.
Recent data from October showed that on average 178 people were turned away daily from the City of Toronto’s shelter system due to a shortage of available beds.
Advocates say the situation is leaving many without anywhere to go but an encampment.
This crisis has been further exacerbated by the recent closure of a number of city-run shelter-hotels, including most recently the 251-bed Novotel site on The Esplanade.
As part of its 2022-2023 winter plan, the city has secured three warming centre locations with a total of 112 spaces, but they only open when the temperature hits minus 15 C.
Roughly 500 more spaces have also been added to the shelter system this year, but that has come at the expense of COVID-19 infection control recommendations, including scrapping the previous standard of two metres between beds.
“Congregate shelter settings lead to poor health outcomes. Conditions within congregate facilities like poor privacy, bug infestations, inadequate sleep surfaces like mats on floors, noise and outbreaks of COVID and other infectious diseases make it difficult for people to maintain their health within these types of environments," nurse practitioner Jessica Hales said in a release.
Speaking to reporters following an unrelated event on Tuesday afternoon, Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city would not close shelter hotels without a plan in place for those who are staying in them.
“We will do that responsibly and we will not do it if there aren't places elsewhere for people to be sheltered by the city,” he said, adding calls by some advocates for a “vast expansion” of the city’s shelter is not the best way to go.
“I am much more focused on building supportive housing – 3,000 units done in the last year and a half or two years, 2,000 more planned for the next few years – because that provides a home with supports for people not a hotel, and not a shelter.”
In a statement provided to CP24.com, the City of Toronto also iterated its commitment to a “Housing First approach to street and encampment outreach and providing wrap-around, client-centered case management supports to people living outdoors.”
Spokesperson Erin Whitton said the city is focusing its outreach efforts on “engaging with individuals living in encampments and other outdoor areas to build trusting relationships, help address immediate health and safety needs and find permanent housing.”
“This engagement process continues once a person accepts an inside space to help ensure they have ongoing support and access to services. Any decision on trespass enforcement is initiated by the City's Encampment Office only after outreach and engagement efforts have been unsuccessful,” Whitton said, noting the city does not “confiscate personal belongings.”
“After people have accepted offers for referral to indoor accommodation, the City may remove debris left behind at the encampment site.”
Pointing to the 2022-2023 Winter Services Plan for people experiencing homelessness, Whitton said the city is creating more than 1,000 spaces through expanded capacity in shelters 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,” she said.
Whitton also noted that the city’s warming centres, while typically activated when Environment Canada forecasts minus 15 C or colder or when there’s wind chill of minus 20 C or colder, are also opened at other times, including when there are colder nighttime temperatures, forecasted wind chill values, and inclement weather alerts.
“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,” she said, admitting that despite accommodating more than 8,600 people nightly - more people than it ever has before – and “continually adding beds”, Toronto’s shelter system is a capacity most nights.
“There continues to be a need for all orders of government to increase long-term funding for housing, refugee support and health 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.”
Tuesday's event also served to collect survival supply donations, including tents, sleeping bags, and warm clothing, including water-resistant coats, gloves, hats, hoodies, track pants, long johns, and thermal socks.
