City officials said 26 of the 100 available shelter beds at the Moss Park Armoury were occupied as of 4 a.m. on Sunday.
An extended cold snap and a shortage of permanent shelter beds has prompted staff to find additional shelter spaces for the city’s homeless population and last week, after initially rejecting it as a feasible option, Mayor John Tory said the city would request permission from the federal government to use the armoury as a temporary shelter site.
The site officially opened on Saturday night, about 36 hours ahead of schedule.
“Activation went smoothly with the opening of the Moss Park Armoury as of 7 p.m. last night,” city staff said in a news release issued Sunday.
“With this, and the increases in warming centre and respite capacity, as well as additional outreach teams on the road overnight, there were services available for everyone wanting a warm and safe place to go.”
On Saturday, the city opened the Wellesley Community Centre as an “overflow warming centre” but officials said Sunday that the site was not needed as there was only one person there as of 4 a.m.
“…Warming centre services will be closed at this location today. Therefore, the facility will be returned to its primary purpose of community-based programming,” the news release read.
The warming centre at the Regent Park Community Centre saw 67 people overnight and the warming centre at Metro Hall hosted 35. Both facilities will continue to operate on a 24/7 basis until further notice, the city said.
One-hundred-and-sixty of the 200 shelter beds at the Better Living Centre were occupied overnight, according to city staff.
Officials said street outreach teams encountered 44 people outside but only three accepted service.
The city began this winter with five 24/7 winter respite facilities but a sixth was opened at the Better Living Centre to deal with demand.
The city has been permitted to use the Moss Park Armoury site as a seventh winter respite shelter for two weeks and after that period, it is expected that a permanent shelter will be found.
