Advocates call for more shelter beds as cold weather sets in, region says it knows there aren't enough

As the cold weather sets in, the Region of Waterloo says it's opening a new emergency overnight shelter in Kitchener to help keep people off the street and staff are asking for more money in the 2025 budget for extreme and winter weather preparations.

But advocates say more still needs to be done.

The temporary shelter at 84 Frederick Street is being run by an organization called Services and Housing In the Province, or SHIP. There are 37 beds available with the capacity to add seven more beds during extreme weather conditions.

Including the temporary shelter, there are currently 589 shelter spaces at various locations in Waterloo region's cities.

But a point-in-time count done on Oct. 22 found more than 2,300 people in the community are homeless — a number that has doubled in three years.

David Alton, a lived expertise facilitator at the Social Development Centre, says the problem with opening more shelters is there appear to be barriers at the regional level.

"One barrier is a jurisdictional barrier," they said. The centre has asked if regionally owned buildings like the one at 150 Main St. in Cambridge or part of the regional headquarters building at 150 Frederick St. in Kitchener could be used to house people.

"These are regional properties, so you'd think that the region would be able to leverage these properties to meet the crisis. But unfortunately ... control and access over those properties is not determined by the community services department," Alton said.

It's not a question really of how long it takes. It's just — if there's nothing, what are you going to do to stay warm? It's part of the reason why in some cities people ride transit through the night because it's a warm place.- Jeff Willmer, A Better Tent City

Alton says that means bureaucracy has made it difficult to test out new ideas.

"Lower municipalities are not internalizing their responsibility to our unsheltered neighbours," they said.

"Neither is the facilities department or the public health department or the health and safety department, even Grand River Transit. Community services and partners have asked Grand River Transit buses to run overnight. But GRT is putting too many barriers to actually make that happen."

Region aware of bed shortage

Peter Sweeney, the commissioner of community services at the Region of Waterloo, says they know 552 beds is not enough to help everyone.

"We are in a situation where we have more people who are homeless than we have supports for, which is why we see a rise in encampments in the last number of years," he said.

"The inflow into homelessness in this community continues to increase and will continue to increase," Sweeney said. "Until we have the proper amount of affordable and transitional housing, we are going to struggle with homelessness in this community for a long time."

He says staff need a lot more resources to meet the region's goal to end homelessness by 2030. It would require an investment of $245 million over the next five years.

Sweeney says they are asking regional council to approve an additional $500,000 in the 2025 budget as part of "an expansion package for the plan to end chronic homelessness." The money will be put toward extreme and winter weather preparations for the new year.

He says those experiencing homelessness currently have the following options if seeking shelter: 

• 80 beds at The Bridges in Cambridge.
• 100 beds at the House of Friendship in Kitchener.
• 100 beds at the home of the old Schwaben Club.
• 30 beds at the Edith Mac Shelter in Kitchener.
• 50 cabins at the outdoor shelter at 1001 Erb's Road in Waterloo.
• 30 beds at the oneROOF shelter for youth in Kitchener.
• 10 beds at the Safe Haven Youth Shelter in Kitchener.
• 24 affordable housing spaces at the former Kinsmen Children's Centre in Cambridge.
• 28 transitional housing spaces for Indigenous people at the K-W Urban Native Wigwam Project.
• 80 transitional housing spaces on University Avenue in Waterloo.
• 20 beds at an emergency shelter for women in Cambridge.

Those who want to access the shelters should call First Connect at 519-624-9133. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

The region has a list of warming centres on their website which includes most municipal offices, libraries, community centres and malls during business hours. But those warming centres are only open during daytime hours.

Limited options on freezing nights

While there are currently limited options for someone who can't find a warm place to stay on a freezing night, one option is for people to make a friend at A Better Tent City. It's a tiny home community that houses 50 people.

Co-founder Jeff Willmer says each resident who lives there can check-in one guest to stay with them and there's little to no notice required. But, he says, he realizes it's not a solution that will help everyone who needs it.

"People are sort of resigned to the fact that there are limited options and they sort of have to fend for themselves. Certainly there are lots of warming centres open during the daytime. So that's a a reasonable solution during the daytime hours. But overnight, the King Street shelter at the old Schwaben Club tends to be the one place people are trying to get into and it's got limited capacity," Willmer said.

"It's not a question really of how long it takes. It's just — if there's nothing, what are you going to do to stay warm? It's part of the reason why in some cities people ride transit through the night because it's a warm place."