Calls grow to declare Toronto homelessness a public health crisis after extreme cold
Councillors in Toronto are set to consider keeping warming centres open 24-7 for the rest of the winter amid growing calls for homelessness to be declared a public health crisis in the city.
Most of Ontario was under extreme cold warnings late last week, with frigid temperatures presenting greater risks for those without proper shelter.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Calls to keep warming centres open around the clock in Toronto have been growing, with community workers and medical providers saying the city policy to open them once temperatures reach -15 C, or -20 C with wind chill, is cruel, not based in evidence and could be causing preventable cold-related injuries.
The centres open at 7 p.m. on the day an alert is issued and stay open until noon on the day an alert ends.
Coun. Alejandra Bravo -- who helped introduce a motion that recommends the city provide 24-7 indoor warming locations until April 15 -- said a lack of available spaces to take shelter from the cold means those experiencing homelessness are taking refuge in unsuitable public spaces.
"We're in a situation where public libraries, the transit system, 24-hour restaurants, all manners of buildings people can access are actually de facto shelter spaces right now," said Bravo.
"They're showing up in emergency departments, putting a huge strain on emergency departments simply because they want to get inside ... that's not a recipe for the health of anyone or social harmony."
Bravo's motion -- set to be considered Tuesday -- includes a call for the declaration of homelessness as a public health crisis. It further requests a review of the procedures for the opening of city-run warming centres.
According to the city's daily data on shelter occupancy, 99 per cent of warming centre spaces were occupied on Friday when an extreme cold warning was in effect -- with only one space unoccupied.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission on Friday expressed concern about the "significant lack of cold weather services in Toronto, and across the province, for people experiencing homelessness." It called on all levels of government to limit what it called "historic and ongoing systemic discrimination" faced by homeless people.
"Keeping members of our community from freezing to death on the streets is part of that essential work," it wrote in a statement.
City spokesperson Alex Burke said the four city-run warming centres don't turn anyone away.
"If a location is at capacity, staff facilitate referrals to other spaces as space became available and support with transportation," Burke wrote.
In a statement Friday, the city said it had increased its warming centre capacity from 142 spaces to 195, while opening 237 temporary contingency spaces at various shelter sites. It also said it added 432 additional spaces to the shelter system.
The city was not able to provide specific costs associated with operating the warming centres, stating they vary depending on factors like location and the number of days a site is open.
Unity Health Toronto, a hospital network in Toronto, said last month that it has seen an increase in cold-related injuries like hypothermia and frostbite this winter. It said its hospitals have also seen injuries from strategies used to survive outside, like sleeping in unsafe areas, overdoses due to substance use or unhoused patients coming to emergency departments to warm up.
"Without places to go, many of our patients face unnecessary challenges completing their recovery," it wrote in a statement. "At the same time, keeping patients in the emergency department or on a hospital ward for longer than is medically necessary reduces the availability of acute care beds."
A 2019 research review of coroner's records and emergency department charts from five downtown Toronto hospitals found that most cases of injury and death due to cold happen in moderate winter weather. The research by the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions found that between 2004 and 2015, 72 per cent of hypothermia cases in people experiencing homelessness occurred in temperatures warmer than -15 C.
Diana Chan McNally, a harm reduction case manager at the non-profit All Saints Church, said the city needs to prioritize funding for more spaces for unhoused people over increases to the police budget.
Toronto Mayor John Tory announced a proposed $48.3-million increase to the police budget, which would in part go toward the addition of about 200 officers and bring police funding to just over $1.1 billion for 2023.
"Why is it that we're arguing for something as basic as a warming centre, a place for people to go to not freeze to death?" Chan McNally said.
In nearby Hamilton, the municipality said it is re-evaluating its cold response policy after "a realized gap" in its winter response services in December, when recreation centres used as warming centres were closed for staff holidays, as well as increased demand for shelter spaces.
Hamilton city council voted in January to spend an expected $415,000 to add daily overnight warming spaces and keep them open until the end of March.
However, Rob Mastroianni, manager of homelessness and housing support, said the 21 available spaces at the Hamilton's only coed overnight drop-in centre have generally been at capacity in recent days. As a result, users have to be cycled in and out every hour, he said.
In St. Catharines, Ont., outreach worker Emily Spanton said options for homeless individuals are limited.
The city's only warming centre runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, she said, and there aren't enough shelter beds or overnight emergency shelter spaces to accommodate hundreds of unhoused residents.
At the city's breakfast program for unhoused individuals recently, Spanton said she attended to many people with frostbite, including one man whose toe came off when she changed his socks.
"It was fully blackened," she said. "He told me that he was considering breaking into an abandoned building just to stay warm."
Adriana Di Stefano, a Toronto doctor and member of Health Providers Against Poverty, said cold-related injuries like the one Spanton saw are preventable, and can be traumatic for people experiencing homelessness, who often don't have access to followup care.
"The solution seems very simple: provide shelter, provide warming centres, provide supportive housing, provide long-term housing," she said.
"There's a lot of talk about these things but we need action now, because it's cold now. The injuries are happening now, the hospitals are overloaded now."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.