The 2025/2025 Winter Services Plan outlines measures the City is taking to support people experiencing homelessness during the cold winter season when health and safety risks are higher.
The Winter Services Plan will add approximately 1,275 shelter system and housing spaces between November 15, 2025 and April 15, 2026. Highlights include:
The Winter Services Plan is designed to be adaptive and may evolve based on demand and availability of appropriate locations to add capacity.
More on each component of the Winter Services Plan can be found below.
In addition to almost 9,000 shelter system spaces currently offered, the City will add close to 490 spaces this winter by expanding existing shelter programs and opening dedicated 24-hour winter respite sites.
As of November 15, the following winter respites will open:
Starting mid-December, the City will also open a 24-hour winter respite at the Better Living Centre (195 Princes’ Blvd.) that will gradually ramp up to offer a total of 250 spaces.
Unlike Warming Centres, which are activated when a specific temperature threshold is reached, the 24-hour winter respite sites are open for the duration of the winter season.
To access space in the 24-hour winter respite sites, individuals are encouraged to call Central Intake at 416-338-4766 or 1-877-338-3398.
Warming Centres give those who are vulnerable and may be experiencing homelessness a place to rest and access meals, washroom facilities and referrals to emergency shelter.
The City will activate five Warming Centres when Environment and Climate Change Canada forecasts temperatures to reach minus 5 degrees Celsius and/or during a winter weather event warning. The Warming Centres are located at:
Individuals can visit the Warming Centres webpage to learn more about each location and sign up to receive e-Updates when the Centres open and close.
At minus 15 degrees Celsius, the City will deploy additional street outreach teams to perform wellness checks and encourage people living outside to come indoors. Outreach staff also hand out blankets, sleeping bags and warm winter clothing all winter long.
The City will also activate approximately 175 additional spaces to get as many people inside as possible during extreme cold temperatures. This will be done by activating additional Warming Centres and opening temporary contingency spaces in areas not traditionally used for sleeping, such as common areas and meeting rooms.
The Warming Centres activated at minus 15 include:
All shelters in Toronto work from a housing first model, with a priority to assist clients to secure permanent housing with supports to help with the transition.
During the 2025-2026 winter season, approximately 370 housing units are expected to become available. This will help people move from the shelter system into permanent housing, creating important shelter system flow.
The housing is comprised of:
As part of the Winter Services Plan, the City has worked with daytime drop-in providers to extend operations by 262 hours weekly to support people in need this winter.
Drop-ins provide a range of services that may include food, healthcare, showers, laundry, information and referrals, and social and recreational activities to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
The City’s Streets to Homes outreach staff will continue to support people in need across the transit system, with a focus on hotspots, working to connect them to shelter, housing and wrap-around support services.
As part of this work, staff will connect people needing enhanced health and mental-health focused services to LOFT Community Services Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team, which includes case managers and health care professionals, including nurses.
Starting November 15, the City will expand Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCCS) mobile response teams within the “The U Zone” of Line 1 (Yonge-University) to provide timely, trauma-informed mental health crisis intervention within the transit system. Crisis workers will not be stationary – they may ride along the TTC line and will also respond to calls for service/support.