Councillors Alejandra Bravo (Davenport), Ausma Malik (Spadina—Fort York), and Gord Perks (Parkdale—High Park) issued a statement calling for warming centres and drop-ins to open in advance of imminent cold weather.
December 22, 2022
Call for emergency shelter winter storm response
With cold weather and freezing rain arriving today, we have a duty in our city to protect one another. Each day, over 100 people are turned away from central intake because there is no space available in our shelters, which are stretched to capacity. The City of Toronto’s extreme cold weather alert policy only triggers the opening of emergency Warming Centres when temperatures dip below -15 degrees celsius, a threshold that forces people to risk their health and safety on the streets in snow, rain, and winter weather.
City staff have confirmed that Warming Centres are scheduled to open on Friday at 7 pm. As members of the Toronto Board of Health, we have expressed our concern and asked for options to increase the hours and locations of Warming Centres and drop-ins, starting tonight. At the January meeting of the Board of Health, we will be requesting a review of the City’s extreme cold weather alert policy and ways to move forward that can provide better protection for people who are experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness. Protecting people must be our top priority.
Councillor Gord Perks
Ward 4, Parkdale—High Park
Councillor Alejandra Bravo
Ward 9, Davenport
Councillor Ausma Malik
Ward 10, Spadina—Fort York
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Media Contact:
Wyndham Bettencourt-McCarthy
[email protected]
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