On Tuesday, the economic and community development committee of Toronto City Council unanimously approved a motion calling for the city to declare a homelessness emergency. Councilor Paul Ainslie, representing Ward 24, Scarborough-Guildwood, moved the motion, and Councilor Shelley Carroll, the committee’s chair, expressed that while the motion is symbolic, it sends a message about the urgency of the crisis in Toronto and the need to do better. According to the city’s own data, roughly 10,800 people were homeless in Toronto in the last three months.
The call for a homelessness emergency comes after Ontario’s Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said in December 2021 that the Ontario government has no plan to reduce or prevent homelessness, and Councilor Carroll highlighted that the situation has not improved. Hamilton declared a state of emergency in April 2022 related to homelessness, opioid addiction, and mental health.
Greg Cook, a member of the steering committee of Shelter and Housing Justice Network and an outreach worker at Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto, urged the committee to pass the motion, noting that the number of unhoused people who die in Toronto every year is deeply concerning, with a total of 187 people dying while unhoused in Toronto last year. Cook said that the city’s Shelter Support and Housing Administration report considered by the committee fails to describe the severity of the homelessness crisis in Toronto.
Meanwhile, Gordon Tanner, SSHA’s general manager, told the committee that there is “increasing pressure” on the city’s homeless shelter system. The division wants city council to ask the provincial and federal governments for $5 million to operate additional warming centers for the 2023-2024 winter season. The report added that without future funding commitments from the federal and provincial governments for 2023, funding will no longer be available for any contractual obligations under the Winter Services program starting January 1, 2024.
Homeless advocates, who gathered outside City Hall before the meeting, called for the declaration of a homelessness emergency, with outreach worker Lorraine Lam noting that declaring a state of emergency would enable access to provincial and federal funding so that the city can build and invest in the programs needed.