Item - 2023.EC1.9

The Economic and Community Development Committee:

1. Directed the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to review all policies and procedures related to the opening and operations of Emergency Warming Centres and report back at the April 25, 2023 meeting with recommendations on improvements that can be made including opening centers more proactively and reinvesting in community-outreach programs, such as Out of The Cold, which could reduce the pressures on city facilities.

2. Directed the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to continue to use their discretion that takes into account all weather conditions when it comes to opening warming centres, not solely predicated on an emergency cold weather alert being issued, while this report is being prepared.

3. Referred the following motion from Councillor Paul Ainslie to the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration for consideration as part of the report requested for April 25, 2023:

"1. Economic and Community Development Committee request the General Manager, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration to consult with the Medical Officer of Health and relevant medical experts to examine and revise the environmental conditions required to declare an Extreme Cold Weather Alert, prioritizing the minimization of loss of life and cold-related injury and report to the April 25, 2023 meeting on:

a. aligning the opening of warming centres with the declaration of an Emergency Cold Weather Alert;

b. delegating authority for declaring an Emergency Cold Weather Alert and the opening of warming centres to the Medical Officer of Health;

c. ensuring that the Cold Weather Response Plan is implemented between September 15 and June 1 each year, in line with the time period in which the City of Toronto’s minimum temperature by-law comes in to effect for tenants;

d. ensuring hot meals, adequate washrooms, showers, harm reduction supplies, and on-site social work and health supports are available in warming centres;

e. securing appropriate space — either within the City’s portfolio, through public service partners such as the TTC, by purchasing sprung structures, or through commercial rental opportunities — to ensure an equitable, City-wide network of warming Centres; and

f. the funding required to deliver an equitable, City-wide network of warming Centres, either through the City or through agency partners, with a fair wage policy in place for all staff."

Members of our communities, faith leaders, outreach workers, and advocates have made requests for the City to open Emergency Warming Centres sooner, in more accessible locations, and for longer hours throughout the winter months. Prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures has led to preventable injury, mental distress, and death.

In response, I am requesting that staff undertake a review and propose changes to these policies so that we can accommodate greater flexibility and effectively address the impacts on homeless and under-housed individuals’ health and well-being.