Shelter System Pressures and Responses, including Planning for Winter 2023/2024

Shelter, Support & Housing Administration's preparation for winter 2023/2024 began at the end of the last winter season in April 2023, and has sited Warming Centres and a 24-hour winter respite, as directed by Council. The added space during the winter is critical to help move people who are sleeping outdoors into indoor space, including those people currently sleeping in encampments and on the transit system. With recent surges in demand, there are undeniable significant pressures on Toronto's shelter system, and the City expects demand to continue to rise during the winter months and throughout 2024. The winter spaces that have been secured may not be sufficient to address overall shelter system capacity needs. Demand is far greater than the current system can accommodate. The City is doing everything it can to support the increasing number of refugee claimants that continue to add pressure to the system. The City desperately requires immediate support from the Federal and Provincial governments to avoid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the winter months. The City has communicated its need to the Federal Government, as adopted by City Council in CC10.2, as it relates to responding to the increasing refugee crisis in Toronto. This need for federal support becomes even more critical as we get into the winter months. Although the City continues to reiterate the need for support from the Federal and Provincial Governments, Shelter, Support & Housing Administration is also continuing to identify additional options to respond to the demands during winter, including continuing to work with other City divisions, as part of a City-wide approach, to responding to this crisis. The report also provides report backs to Economic and Community Development Committee (ECDC) as requested by previous Council motions, including updates on the frequency of Deaths of Shelter Residents data sharing, Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) in the shelter system, audits of shelter-hotel operations examining health and safety, harm reduction practices, food quality, and rules such as bed checks, and the feasibility of obtaining more rent supplements and housing allowances.