Toronto could decommission up to five temporary hotel shelter sites this year

City staff are recommending that Toronto decommission up to five temporary homeless shelters as part of a wider plan to eventually close most of the sites set up in hotels and motels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan is being considered by the city’s economic and community development committee during a meeting today. It would then go to city council as a whole next month.

If approved, it will see the city decommission two sites with a combined 231 beds – the Better Living Centre at 195 Princes' Blvd. and the Days Inn at 1684 Queen Street East - upon the expiry of their leases this spring.

The city would also look to decommission up to three additional sites later in 2022.

At the same time it would extend the leases on 23 hotel sites until at least Dec. 31, 2022 with an option to continue to operate a handful of the sites up to Aug, 2024, if needed.

In the report staff note that they are not recommending a “full return to the pre-COVID situation in the shelter system,” which allowed for beds to be separated by less than a metre.

But they say that the temporary sites, which now house 3,200 people and account for 40 per cent of the shelter capacity in Toronto, were never meant to be a permanent solution.

As part of the 24-month plan, staff say that the city will be creating more than 3,300 new affordable housing opportunities, including approximately 1,000 supportive homes through a new modular housing initiative.

Staff concede that the new housing sites and supports “will not all go directly to people staying in temporary sites that need to be decommissioned in 2022” but they say that they are intended “for people experiencing chronic homelessness throughout the shelter system and those living outdoors.”

“The experiences of the pandemic have made clear that the best way to prevent the spread of the virus and the solutions to homelessness are the same – by providing people with safe and adequate housing,” the report states.

CAPACITY COULD BE INCREASED IN SOME TEMPORARY SITES AS INTERIM SOLUTION

The staff report does not provide an estimate for the number of hotel and motel sites that may be decommissioned in 2023 but does acknowledge that more sites are likely to be closed as part of a “gradual” transition.

It says that as sites are decommissioned the city will be exploring a number of strategies to ensure that nobody is put out on the street, including increasing the occupancy in its remaining temporary sites “where feasible” and increasing the capacity in the city’s permanent shelters, which was curtailed during the pandemic.

There are currently 27 temporary shelter sites in Toronto, including 23 in hotels or motels.

The temporary sites have been largely responsible for the city expanding its shelter system capacity for individuals from 4,900 pre-pandemic to 6,100 today.