Today, the City of Toronto is providing details of its plan to make additional resources available to care for people experiencing homelessness during the winter months.
This year’s plan will expand shelter system capacity, activate Warming Centres, move people into permanent housing, enhance street outreach, and open extra capacity during extreme cold.
Toronto continues to experience a homelessness emergency, driven by unaffordable housing, insufficient income supports and unmet health needs. The City is working to build more housing and long-term shelter capacity while providing emergency relief through its Winter Services Plan for people experiencing homelessness.
These measures will be in place from Saturday, November 15 through to Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
Out of an abundance of caution due to forecasted temperatures, the City will be opening a select number of winter spaces this weekend ahead of the launch date. Further details will be available shortly.
Highlights
This winter, the City will open approximately 1,275 additional shelter and housing spaces, with an emphasis on both emergency response and moving more people into permanent housing.
This includes:
The City will dispatch additional street outreach teams during extreme cold to encourage people to come indoors. Staff also conduct regular outreach to provide services along with warm clothing, sleeping bags and other cold weather supplies all winter long.
Operating hours will be extended at several daytime drop-in programs, which provide food, healthcare, showers, laundry, and recreational activities, leading to 262 extra hours of service each week.
In addition to Toronto’s winter plan, the City will continue to refer new refugee claimants to the Peel Regional Reception Centre for support.
Full details of the City’s Winter Services plan are available online.
Homelessness in Toronto
Toronto has seen a decrease in the number of people in need of homelessness services since the 2024 Street Needs Assessment was conducted. More information about the assessment is available on the City’s website.
The results of another point-in-time count are currently being calculated for an up-to-date picture of homelessness in the city. This data is used to inform policies, such as the City’s five-year homelessness strategy, as City staff improve Toronto’s approach to homelessness.
The City is currently providing accommodations to almost 9,000 people each night. The number of encampments has decreased from more than 500 at this time last year to about 330 this month.
More than 700 people have been referred into the shelter system from encampments and 3,800 people have moved from the shelter system into permanent housing in 2025 so far.
However, this momentum is at risk without stable funding agreements between all three orders of government. The City will continue to look for ways to maximize its resources to care for as many people as possible, while advocating for fair agreements that adequately support shelter and housing for vulnerable people in Toronto.
Toronto is home to more than three million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation and climate action, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City's website or follow us on X, Instagram or Facebook.