City of Toronto’s homelessness infrastructure strategy aims to move more people to long-term facilities

By Victoria Hincapie

The City of Toronto plans to add up to 20 new shelter locations by 2033 via its Homelessness Services Capital Infrastructure Strategy (HSCIS). 

“As these sites open, it will allow the City to move away from temporary sites without losing capacity. These locations will stabilize the shelter system and be more cost-effective,” says Elise von Scheel, a Senior Communications Advisor for the City.

The strategy aims to build 1,600 long-term and permanent shelter beds in Toronto’s Shelter System within the new shelter locations that will be constructed between 2024 and 2033.   

The City says the capital cost to implement the HSCIS is estimated to be $674.5 million, but they are still in negotiations with the Federal government to secure their funding. 

Conducting research for the HSCIS report, the City found that in the past ten years the average market for a one-bedroom unit has risen by 57 percent, while the Ontario Works monthly budget has only increased by 4 percent. 

Open Data Toronto reported 1,006 deaths of people experiencing homelessness between 2017 and 2023. Out of the reported deaths, 218 were female and 788 were male. 

Fourteen deaths of transgender people experiencing homelessness were reported between 2017 and 2023. No distinction was made between transgender women and men in the data.

The City found that 24 percent of youth experiencing homelessness across Canada identify as 2SLGBTQ+, and 35 percent identify as Indigenous.   

Scheel says the demographics that each new shelter will accommodate haven’t been decided.  

“The populations served in each site are yet to be determined, as research is currently being conducted to identify the most up-to-date demographics of those experiencing homelessness. As part of HSCIS, the City will be opening new programs in areas with significant need, including sites for Indigenous women, families, and youth,” she says.

Scheel says the demand for shelters has grown, ever since the City opened more temporary shelters during COVID-19 to allow social-distancing.  

“In the time since, homelessness has increased and so has the demand for shelter spaces due to a lack of affordable housing, inadequate income supports, the mental health and drug toxicity crises and other factors. The City continues to use a number of those temporary sites out of necessity, however, these locations are not designed for shelter use and are more costly,” she says. 

Toronto City Council approved temporary shelter hotel leases for up to five years last February while these sites are developed.  

City of Toronto Media Relations Advisor Keisha Mair says reports on deaths of people experiencing homelessness are higher than pre-pandemic levels. 

“In terms of change in the number of deaths among people experiencing homelessness pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic, there were a total of 150 reports of deaths in 2023. Which was lower than 2022 with 189 reported deaths, but still higher than pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels with 94 reports in 2018 and 128 reports in 2019,” she says.

Although overall reports on deaths of people experiencing homelessness rose after COVID-19, they decreased for females. For the combined years of 2018-2019, women represented 25 percent of the deaths, and for the combined years of 2022-2023, the proportion of deaths that were women was lower at 18 percent. 

Toronto Public Health only reported COVID-19 as the direct cause of death in eight cases among males and females between 2020 and 2023, but reports on drug toxicity as a cause of death rose significantly during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic reports. 

Joe Pantalone, a former Toronto City Councillor for the old boundary of Ward 19 – Trinity-Spadina Joe Pantalone, says the approach society takes to target drug abuse isn’t holistic. 

Pantalone was in office between 2000 to 2010 and chair in the Metro Drug Abuse Prevention Force. He is now an Urban Affairs Specialist at Joe Pantalone Consulting, and a member for 11 community-based Business Improvement Associations in the City of Toronto. 

“The approach our society takes for major issues is not holistic, and is not based on a true analysis of what the problem is overall. Instead of trying to prevent it from happening in the first place, they try to remedy it. Society is going to keep on failing in preventing drug abuse or anything else from happening, unless they go back to the basics, and I’m afraid our society is not willing to go back to basics,” he says.  

According to Statistics Canada, in the Fall 2022, 42 percent of Canadians reported financial issues as the leading cause of homelessness.  

Pantalone says regulatory bodies like the Tribunal of Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board influence the availability of affordable housing. 

“There’s people who own homes, and who have extra space they could rent like a basement. But they won’t rent out, because if the tenant refuses to pay rent, there’s no streamlined process for dealing with legitimate grievances. If the tenant refuses to move, landlords need to bring the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board. And guess what, they take 8 to 6 months to make a decision even when there’s a clear-cut situation there. If the province made it easier for small landlords, housing could be released into the market more efficiently,” he says.      

Featured photo: Shelter patio at 705 Progress Avenue in Scarborough. Photo credit: City of Toronto.