Item - 2023.EC7.8

City Council considered Items EC7.8, EC7.7, and EX9.19 together.

The Economic and Community Development Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the Government of Canada to immediately fund and operationalize emergency accommodation sites on federal lands for refugee claimants currently in Toronto, including but not limited to the federal armouries, to provide emergency safe, indoor spaces for this population for the duration of the winter season.

2. City Council request the Government of Canada to immediately fund and operationalize, in partnership with the Red Cross and the Ontario Coalition for Refugee Claimants, a federal Reception Centre for refugee claimants in the vicinity of Pearson Airport, modeled on federally-funded and supported initiatives for Ukrainian arrivals and for refugee claimants at land crossings in Quebec, and to implement a transition plan for all new arrivals at the Reception Centre to IRCC-funded shelter and support services.

3. City Council request the Government of Canada share with the City of Toronto the federal response plan for providing appropriate support services, including housing support, for refugee claimants in order to meet the increased need for such services given the growing number of asylum claims, year-over-year, following the Government of Canada's decision to change eligibility requirements for visitor visas.

4. City Council request, in addition to City Council's previous request in item CC10.2 for the full reimbursement for costs incurred supporting refugee claimants in Toronto's shelter system, that the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario provide additional funding to the City of Toronto for the Winter Services Response for the activation of additional Warming Centres, respite spaces and surge capacity locations for people seeking indoor shelter in the 2023-2024 winter season.

Toronto’s shelter system is full, and demand for shelter services is at an all-time high. Current demand for shelter space is so high that every night the City is unable to provide shelter to hundreds of people requesting a space.

This report provides an update on the City’s Winter Services plan. Expanded services during the winter season (November 15 to April 15) provide warm, indoor space for people experiencing homelessness and protect people from cold and extreme weather during the winter months. 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.