More shelter beds will be available this winter, city says

By Momin Qureshi

With winter on our doorstep, and following the massive confusion of last year, the City of Toronto is making moves to ensure it can handle the increased demand on its shelter system.

Last year’s winter was brutally cold, especially over a two- to three-week stretch when the city became so frigid that City Hall was flooded with calls to open the Moss Park Armoury to shelter some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

The armoury was eventually opened and a number of temporary respite sites were created across the city — including one in North York.

Paul Raftis, general manager of Shelter and Support Housing, said last year was a tough lesson that the city has learned from.

“We learned a lot last year. We went into last season fully believing that we had a tremendous amount of resources available — it was actually double the resources we had available the year before,” he explained.

Raftis added that this year they are better prepared.

“We’ve increased the number of shelter beds available. We’ve looked at our staffing as well as new technology and system oversight in our central intake system.”

The city also has a contingency plan in place that includes 200 extra beds on top of the 600 that will be open as of Nov. 15. The plan is that if the weather goes from bad to worse, the city will be able to open new spaces quickly to ensure people can get out of the cold and into warm, safe spaces quickly.

Those beds will be available at shelters and respite sites across the city including one at 354 George St., which was given to the city by the province earlier this year.

Raftis said because of the extra beds available this winter he doesn’t believe they will need to use the armoury this year.


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