The Toronto Shelter Standards (TSS) provide City of Toronto-funded shelter providers and clients with a clear set of expectations, guidelines and minimum requirements for the delivery of shelter services in Toronto. All emergency and transitional shelters funded or directly operated by the City of Toronto, are expected to meet the minimum service standards outlined in the Toronto Shelter Standards, as updated in 2022.
Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) is committed to working collaboratively with providers to identify and take advantage of opportunities for improvement on an ongoing basis.
Throughout 2022, the TSS underwent an update from its initial release in 2015. The TSS now incorporates previously communicated and implemented updates to the sector, including:
Please consult the Toronto Shelter Standards Q&A document for further details.
In 2023, the City of Toronto will be updating the Toronto Shelter Standards with an anti-Black racism (ABR) lens. As part of this process, in 2022, the City engaged a third-party facilitator, Facilitating Change, to conduct consultations with Black shelter users. Learn more about the process.
Toronto Shelter Standards
This accessible document contains external hyperlinks, but is otherwise a static document and ideal for printing or for screen reader software.
Preamble
Chapter 1: Policy Context
Chapter 2: Toronto’s Shelter System
Chapter 3: Defined Terms
Chapter 4: Applicable Legislation
Chapter 5: Principles of Service Delivery
Chapter 6: Client Rights and Responsibilities
Chapter 7: Complaints, Compliments and Appeals
Chapter 8: Access Requests and Customer Service
Chapter 9: Basic Needs and Services
Chapter 10: Case Management, Supports and Services
Chapter 11: Health and Safety
Chapter 12: Administration
Quick Reference: Update to the Toronto Shelter Standards Questions and Answers
Quick Reference: Policies, Procedures and Plans Requirements
Quick Reference: Reporting Contact List
Quick Reference: Training Topics and Professional Competencies Matrix
Policy and Procedure Template for Shelter Providers
Poster: Client Rights & Responsibilities / Staff Code of Conduct
This poster was created as tabloid-sized, but can be printed on letter-sized paper by changing your print setting.
Poster: Compliments, Complaints and Appeals
This poster was created as tabloid-sized, but can be printed on letter-sized paper by changing your print setting.
Reference Card: How to Make a Complaint
This template was created to allow you to print 6 business card-sized reference cards (double-sided) to distribute to clients.
In October 2021, SSHA released its second service plan, the Homelessness Solutions Service Plan. This Service Plan sets out implementation priorities to guide the collective efforts of the homelessness service system over the next three years, while also defining outcome statements that will guide longer term planning towards our shared goal of ending chronic homelessness in Toronto.
One of the actions under the Service Plan is to regularly update the Toronto Shelter Standards and Toronto 24-Hour Respite Site Standards to strengthen health and safety provisions with a focus on equity and inclusion. The 2022 Update to the Toronto Shelter Standards addresses this action and future updates to the TSS are underway.
The delivery of emergency shelter services in Ontario is discretionary. In the absence of provincial standards governing the delivery of shelter services, the City of Toronto developed Shelter Standards in 1992 to provide City-funded shelter providers and shelter clients with a clear set of expectations and guidelines.