Expression of Interest – Winter Program Operators

About the City’s Winter Services Plan

The City activates a Winter Services Plan to provide additional capacity and enhanced services to support people experiencing homelessness during the cold winter months, when health and safety risks are higher than normal. The Winter Services Plan runs annually from November 15 to April 15.

Warming Centres and Winter Respite Programs are critical components of the Winter Services Plan to provide additional warm indoor spaces.

As approved by City Council in May 2023, Warming Centres are activated when Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts temperatures to reach minus five degrees Celsius and/or during a winter weather event warning. Centres may also be activated on direction from the General Manager, Toronto Shelter and Support Services.

Winter Respites are open continuously throughout the winter season (November 15 to April 15) and are expected to follow the City’s 24-Hour Respite Site Standards.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants were required to meet the following requirements in order to be eligible for the Request for Expression of Interest:

• Be incorporated as a non-profit organization
• Be in good standing with the City of Toronto (e.g., recipients of funding must have met and not be in default of the terms and conditions of current or previous funding or operating agreements)
• Provide harm reduction in alignment with Toronto Shelter & Support Services’ Harm Reduction Framework
• Have experience running an overnight emergency shelter and/or respite program
• Have sound working knowledge of the City’s 24-Hour Respite Site Standards (TRS)
• Demonstrate experience dealing with high crisis situations
• Have experience with community engagement and the City’s engagement and complaints processes, with relevant policies and procedures as outlined in the 24-Hour Respite Site Standards
• Provide meals, laundry and cleaning services (or contract out these services)
• Allow pets

Applicants for Warming Centre operations must also:

• Have capacity to ramp up and ramp down operations quickly, including the ability to manage and redeploy staff and support client transitions within established timelines
• Be able to open and close on short notice more frequently during the winter

Read the complete Winter Program Operator Request for Expression of Interest Guidelines.

Scope of Work & Activation Details: Warming Centres

Scope of Work

At minimum, successful applicants will be required to:

• Provide a safe and welcoming space for all clients, including clients from equity deserving populations (e.g., 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous and Black clients)
• Be able to ramp up and ramp down services when an activation is called or ending. Must be able to open by 5 p.m. on the evening activation is called
• Remain open during the day when an activation continues for multiple days
• Provide warm referrals to all Warming Centre clients when an activation ends, as part of their ramp down plan
• Organize and provide three meals and a snack each day that the Warming Centre is open
• Be responsible for rigorous Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) of the space, including cleaning, laundering bedding and disinfection
• Accept clients with pets
• Provide harm reduction supports (and cannot be abstinence based). Refer to requirements in section 6.2 of the Guidelines
• Work from a trauma-informed and anti-Black racism lens, and be experts in de-escalation and building rapport
• Provide basic referrals (e.g., respite, shelter, medical services, etc.)
• Work with local community agencies, including ensuring access to primary health care
• Provide services to clients in a supportive manner that is client focused and accommodating persons with a variety of needs and issues
• Have capacity and commitment to hire, train and support peers/people with lived experience to work at the Warming Centre. This must be reflected in the proposal and budget
• Connect clients with appropriate community resources
• Operate using the Shelter Management Information System (SMIS) to record all relevant client related information

Successful applicants will be expected to work with the community in which the Warming Centre is located to maintain a positive community relationship. This includes engagement and complaints management.

Activation Criteria

Warming Centres can be activated (opened) or deactivated (closed to new admissions) between November 15, 2025 until April 15, 2025.

Warming Centres are activated when:

• Environment and Climate Change Canada forecast temperatures to reach minus five degrees Celsius or issues a winter weather event warning (e.g., blizzards, freezing rain, snow squalls, significant snowfall, etc.)
• determined by the General Manager, Toronto Shelter and Support Services

Activation Timing and Service Details

Warming Centres can be City-owned or leased sites. Host locations may operate other programs in the Warming Centre space when the Centre is not in use.

Host locations and Warming Centre operators will be notified of a Warming Centre activation at 7:30 a.m. On that day:

• Host locations will be required to vacate the space by 2:30 p.m., so that Warming Centre operators can set up.
• Warming Centre operators will be required to open the Warming Centre at 5 p.m. and keep it continuously open and staffed 24 hours a day, until Toronto Shelter and Support Services determines that Warming Centres will close.

Warming Centre sites are notified at 7:30 a.m. of the decision to deactivate. At this point, Warming Centres will close to new admissions. Sites will remain open until all remaining clients are referred to alternate shelter spaces.

Scope of Work: 24-Hour Winter Respites

Successful applicants will be required to:

• Deliver high-quality services to individuals or households experiencing homelessness, while fulfilling obligations set out in the 24-Hour Respite Site Standards and their Operating Agreement
• Operate 24/7, opening November 15, 2025 and closing to new admissions April 15, 2026. Respites will be expected to remain open until all clients are referred to an appropriate shelter/respite space and all beds are vacated.

Funding

Successful applicants for Warming Centre and/or Winter Respite operations will be required to enter into an Operating Agreement with the City’s Toronto Shelter & Support Services division prior to receiving funding.

The City intends to establish a list of successful applicants to remain valid for the 2025-2030 winter programming period, subject to the terms and conditions of this Request for Expression of Interest.

The term of the Operating Agreement with the City is for a one-year period, with an option to extend the agreement upon mutual agreement between the City and operator on the same terms and conditions, for an additional term of up to four separate one year periods, and subject to programming needs established by the City, as well as the availability of City funding.

The Evaluation Process 

The Request for Expression of Interest closed on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

The Evaluation Committee is currently reviewing and analyzing all submissions. The Evaluation Committee includes members from the Toronto Shelter and Support Services Division and other relevant City staff and stakeholders, where necessary.

The Evaluation Committee may, at its sole discretion, retain additional committee members or advisors.

The Evaluation Committee will select successful applicants, which in its opinion meet or exceed the City’s requirements under the REOI and provide the best overall value to the City.

By responding to this REOI, applicants agree that the decision of the Evaluation Committee will be final and binding.

Evaluation will take approximately one month, with a final decision made on Tuesday, August 26. .

All eligible applicants will be informed of the outcome of the Expression of Interest.

Qualified List

Successful applicants will be added to a ‘Qualified List’ to be considered for Warming Centre and/or 24-Hour Winter Respite Site operations throughout the 2025-2030 winter seasons.