Toronto opens 2 surge capacity warming centres ahead of cold weather

Toronto has opened two surge capacity warming centres for unhoused people on Saturday evening ahead of extremely cold temperatures expected to grip the city from Sunday to Wednesday.

The warming centres, which opened at 5 p.m., are located at Cecil Community Centre, 58 Cecil St., east of Spadina Avenue and south of College Street, and Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre, 870 Queen St. E., east of Broadview Avenue and north of Queen Street E.

"To help bring as many people as possible indoors during the extreme cold forecasted in the coming days, the City of Toronto is launching an early activation of its two surge Warming Centres, adding more street outreach and opening temporary contingency spaces in the shelter system in areas not traditionally used for sleeping," city spokesperson Russell Baker said in an email on Saturday.

People can walk into warming centres and do not need to call the city's central intake line to access the space, the city said.

"Should someone arrive at a centre to find that it is already at capacity, the City will assist with transportation to another Warming Centre that has space," the city said.

"Warming Centres give those who are vulnerable and may be experiencing homelessness a warm indoor place to rest and access meals, washroom facilities and referrals to emergency shelter and other community services," the city added.

Five warming centres, in addition to the two surge capacity ones, remain open, according to the city. They are:

• 136 Spadina Rd., south of Dupont Street.
• 81 Elizabeth St., behind City Hall. West of Bay Street, south of Dundas Street W.
• 12 Holmes Ave., off of Yonge Street, south of Finch Avenue E.
• 885 Scarborough Golf Club Rd., east of Markham Road, south of Ellesmere Road.
• Metro Hall, 55 John St., east of John St., north of Wellington Street W.

The city said it is dispatching additional Streets to Homes and partner outreach teams on Saturday to connect with people living outside and encourage them to come indoors. Outreach staff continue to hand out blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing. 

If members of the public see someone who needs support, they are urged to call 311.

Volunteers hand out survival kits to unhoused people

Meanwhile, on Saturday afternoon before temperature began to drop, volunteers from several organizations packaged and distributed more than 3,500 winter survival kits to over 145 social service agencies, homeless shelters and outreach relief agencies in the Greater Toronto Area. 

The event, organized by Engage and Change, is called Project Winter Survival. Each winter survival kit contains a sleeping bag, toque, scarf, winter gloves, socks and personal healthcare items.

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Jody Steinhauser, founder of Engage and Change, a Toronto charity, said the answer to homelessness is housing, but until the province has enough housing, the winter survival kits are necessary.

"The need has gone through the roof. Every year, unfortunately, we hope it reduces, but this year, we got asked for five times the amount of survival kits we're able to get out on the streets today," Steinhauser said.

"It's deflating. We're very proud that we can come together and do this, but we shouldn't be doing this. This is not a solution. It's a bandaid. We definitely need supportive housing."

Steinhauser said the kits prevent people from dying in extremely cold weather. Twenty-six years ago, she connected with outreach groups after someone died in a bus shelter. 

"They told me, 'Jody, if the guy had a sleeping bag, he'd be alive,'" she said.

Sgt. Alex Wallace, who works in the neighbourhood community officer program in 13 Division and 53 Division, said police took part in Saturday's event. Neighbourhood community officers often speak to the city's most vulnerable and underhoused people when out the streets.

"We see the needs that they have, so understanding that we can do something that can help them get through this winter season, like these kits, is important to us," Wallace said.

Raymond Francis, a formerly unhoused person, said winter was the most difficult time for him when he was homeless. He become unhoused two years ago after his wife of his 39 years died of a heart attack and he was unable to go back to work.

"When I was living in my car, there were some days when I had to choose between eating or putting $20 in my gas tank so I had heat," Francis said. "99 per cent of the time the heat went out, and I went without food." 

He added, "We're not looking for a handout, we're looking for a hand up. And maybe a bit of understanding, not judgment. We didn't choose to be like this."

Extreme cold forecast from Sunday to Wednesday

From Sunday to Wednesday, temperatures in Toronto "may be colder than those that have been seen the last several years," Environment Canada said on its website. 

That means parts of the GTA could see temperatures that feel as cold as –30 C with the wind chill.

A cold front moving across southern Ontario on Saturday is bringing along a very cold air mass, said Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada. 

According to city data, there are 11,144 actively homeless people in Toronto.

On Thursday night, the city's shelter system provided accommodation to 11,685 people. As well, in December, an average of 114 people nightly were turned away from the city's shelter system due to lack of space.