Homeless advocates call on Toronto to address 'dangerous' shortage of shelter spaces this winter

Homeless advocates gathered outside the office of Toronto Mayor John Tory on Tuesday to demand that the city immediately open more emergency shelter spaces for unhoused people ahead of winter.

The Shelter and Housing Justice Network, which includes homeless advocates, shelter providers, health-care professionals, legal workers, faith leaders and researchers, said there is a shortage of shelter beds in Toronto and the situation is "dangerous" for people experiencing homelessness. 

"I have volunteered in the sector for 15 years and I have never ever seen this many people on the street," Rafi Aaron, spokesperson for the Interfaith Coalition to Fight Homelessness, told reporters.

"It's unimaginable."

The network says the shortage is expected to get worse as the city continues to close shelter hotels, which opened earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. Two shelter hotels were closed in the spring and a third, 45 The Esplanade, formerly known as the Novotel Toronto Centre, is slated to close in December, a move that will affect 251 people.

The mayor declined to meet with the network in person on Tuesday, but his staff found a shelter bed for an attendee at the demonstration who had been waiting four weeks to get one. 

Toronto to add 1,000 more shelter spaces

On Monday, the city unveiled its winter plan, saying it will provide more than 1,000 more spaces for unhoused people, but the network says 2,700 more spaces are needed. 

The city said it will create spaces by expanding capacity in shelters, adding rooms in the refugee-specific system and creating permanent affordable rental housing with supports.

Gordon Tanner, general manager of the city's Shelter Support and Housing Administration, said on Monday the need for beds continues to grow while the resources to fund them remain strained.

"Despite continuing to add beds, the ever increasing pressure on the shelter system, which is at capacity most nights, continues," Tanner said.

"The reality is that simply adding additional beds to the system is a short-term emergency solution that is not sustainable."

According to monthly average data released by the city, however, nearly 170 people a night were "unmatched" to shelter on average in September of this year. The data shows about 8,200 people used the Toronto shelter system that month.

According to Aaron, the number of people being turned away is likely much higher because some people have given up trying to secure space. He said there are four homeless deaths a week in Toronto.

"The question is, where is everyone supposed to go?" Aaron said. "With this many people out on the street, if something isn't done today, we are going to lose a lot of people."

A man who identifies himself as Gru, a former resident of the Novotel, said at the demonstration that he thinks the city doesn't care about unhoused people. New councillors have also expressed no concern about the problem, he said.

"None of them have said a word," Gru said.

A total of 221 people experiencing homelessness died in Toronto last year, according to data released by the city in April.

In a letter delivered to the Toronto Board of Health Tuesday, the network writes: "Accessing emergency shelter is now nearly impossible."

People turned away from shelters due to shortages "are forced to sleep outside in the rain and cold," the Shelter and Housing Justice Network writes. 

"Countless others have lost hope and no longer try to access a bed. Recent funding cuts and shelter hotel closures will put more pressure on a system already overloaded."

In the letter, the network demanded that the city do the following:

• End the planned closure of shelter hotels. 
• Add an additional 2,700 shelter spaces in non-congregate settings.
• Stop the cuts in funding to drop-in programming.
• Freeze evictions of encampment residents.
• Work with provincial and federal governments to build rent geared-to-income social housing in Toronto: 10,000 units immediately to address homelessness and 90,000 units to address the wait list.
• Implement a mask mandate for all indoor public spaces and ensure shelter staff and residents have needed PPE.
• Ensure all congregate shelters, warming centres and 24 hour drop-in centres provide at least 2.5 metres between beds and implement physical distancing measures and proper air filtration and exchange.
• Resume outreach efforts to ensure COVID-19 and flu vaccinations are accessible for those who are homeless
• Report the number of COVID-19 outbreaks in shelters, warming centres and 24 hour drop-ins.