Many residents have inquired about homeless shelters. As many of you are aware transitional housing for families has been approved for the 1 Corkstown Road property. Here is more information on homeless shelters across the city:
Addressing demands on the Singles Shelter System
- 24 beds will be added at the existing Physical Distancing-Emergency Overflow Centres via the use of bunk beds by the end of November.
- More than 100 beds will be provided initially at the temporary Heron Road Physical Distancing-Emergency Overflow Centre which will open by the end of November.
- 5 Physical Distancing-Emergency Overflow Centre clients housed since mid-October using the newly launched Enhanced Housing Allowance for singles. Currently processing applications for 6 clients and expect to house an additional 20 clients by the end of November.
Addressing demands on the Family Shelter System
- On November 8, Council approved giving staff delegated authority to negotiate a long-term lease of the property at 1 Corkstown Road, which would provide an additional 170 units of transitional housing for families.
We continue our commitment to transition Physical Distancing-Emergency Overflow Centre services out of City owned Recreation facilities. City staff reviewed more than 200 public real estate listings, completed targeted inquiries with community and public agency partners including school boards, provincial and federal governments, and property development companies, which resulted in the evaluation of over 40 facilities. Staff are actively pursuing the conversion of an office building to permanent transitional housing for men.
Both the family and singles shelter system have been operating over capacity for many years, and we are experiencing levels of demand that we have never seen before. Below you will find a slide from HIFIS that details the projected demand on the shelter system this winter.
Through the City’s Integrated Transition to Housing Strategy, we made the commitment that everyone should have a safe place to stay, and the Taskforce members and I intend to uphold that commitment.
