Extreme Cold Weather

If you need emergency shelter

• Call 3-1-1. Or contact one of the following directly as appropriate:
• Adults and youth requiring a shelter bed should call 416-338-4766, or 1-877-338-3398 toll free from any pay phone, both 24 hours.
• Families needing emergency shelter should call Central Family Intake 416-397-5637, 24 hours.

Too cold for the street
Toronto has many services for homeless people year round, including mostly 24/7 emergency shelters, drop ins, housing assistance, and 24-hour street outreach. But when winter arrives, the City steps up the response out of safety concerns.

Homeless people do not need to stay outside
During the winter the City builds on extensive supports already available throughout the year.

• Year round, the following services are delivered, coordinated or funded by Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA):
• Streets to Homes (S2H) (includes 24-hour street outreach throughout the city during the winter and summer);
• Assessment and Referral Centre (ARC); open for respite and referral services 8:30 pm to 7:30 am daily;
• Emergency shelters; mostly 24/7
• Drop-in centres, including services at some on weekends and statutory holidays
• All winter, the following services are provided in addition to those available year round:
• Monitoring for extreme weather conditions, allowing SSHA to take appropriate measures when such conditions arise;
• Monitoring condition of homeless people living outside during winter months through 24-hour outreach services and case management, including services throughout the city in partnership with community outreach providers. Potential to increase shelter system bed capacity, through the use of extreme weather beds, as needed; and
• Providing an additional 120 beds per night, on average, through the City-funded, volunteer-operated Out of the Cold (OOTC) program.
  

Extreme Cold Weather Alert
When overnight conditions are forecast to meet certain criteria, Hostel Services and Streets to Homes will call an Extreme Cold Weather Alert as early in the day as possible, starting November 15 and going until April 15. Conditions are a weather forecast for -15 degrees Celsius or colder, or when other extreme winter weather is in the offing.

• Additional cold weather services triggered by an Extreme Cold Weather Alert:
• Street outreach and transportation services are increased. Throughout the day there is one SUV on the road, and a minimum of four teams patrolling by foot. In the evening there are two SUVs and a minimum of one foot patrol. Focus is on informing clients about danger of weather conditions and transporting clients to indoor locations;
• More transit tokens for those using drop-ins are provided, to allow homeless people to reach shelters;
• Certain Shelter Standards are relaxed (including service restrictions and curfews in shelters), and shelters are required to modify their hours of admission and discharge (i.e., earlier admission and later discharge); and
• Contact is made with more than 100 organizations and agencies that work with homeless people throughout the city, in order to ensure they can adequately prepare and respond to increased demand for services.
• 168 additional shelter spaces automatically added.

Want to learn more?

List of drop-ins providing TTC tokens during Extreme Cold Weather Alerts