Saskatoon Tribal Council's new shelter opens in Fairhaven, downtown location to close Sunday

A new homeless shelter opened in Saskatoon Friday amid life-threatening winter temperatures.

The Saskatoon Tribal Council's (STC) facility moved from downtown to the Fairhaven neighbourhood. The new shelter has 106 beds, including 31 that used to be at the Lighthouse Supported Living facility downtown. 

"It's a bigger facility than downtown … it's a calmer atmosphere," said STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand.

The STC will be closing the downtown location — which is currently being used as a warm-up site — on Sunday due to insufficient funding, Arcand said.

He said the Saskatoon Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP) gave the organization $390,000, which would only allow the site to be open overnight from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. CST.

"I don't feel good about having people say they can only come in at 10 o'clock," Arcand said.

"Right now it's -30 C outside. It's not right, it's not humane. We shouldn't be kicking people out during the day and telling them to come back at 10 o'clock at night."

SHIP executive director Priscilla Johnstone said there is a lack of resources to meet the needs of all community members.

"It saddens me and it is unfortunate that we cannot do more," she wrote in a statement to CBC.

Arcand said an outreach team will drive around downtown until 1 a.m. CST and offer people a ride to the new location, although he acknowledges some people don't want to leave downtown.

Extreme cold warning

It's expected that the shelter will be at full capacity Friday night, as an extreme cold warning is in effect for many parts of Saskatchewan, including Saskatoon. Extreme wind chill values near -40 C will occur overnight Friday night into Saturday morning, according to Environment Canada.

The City of Saskatoon has activated its extreme cold weather emergency response and says people can warm up at one of 10 locations.

Saskatoon Transit also has a safe bus program where people can use a city bus for immediate shelter or to contact emergency services.

Arcand said people can still warm up at the shelter and get a hot meal even if there aren't enough beds.

Shelter offers cultural counselling, addiction supports

Arcand said the new facility is also more equipped to deal with the city's needs. He said the centre is staffed appropriately with 15 security guards and five support staff to handle any complications or concerns that arise. 

The facility also has a paramedic who works on site, and works closely with Saskatoon fire and police services. 

The new centre offers three meals daily, shower and laundry facilities, and cultural, counselling and addictions supports.

Arcand said staff will connect people with housing and employment.

Transportation will be made available for people looking to use services in Fairhaven, he said.