For the first time this cold season, the City of Toronto has activated its four warming centres for people experiencing homelessness.
Located at 136 Spadina Rd., 81 Elizabeth St., 12 Holmes Ave., and 885 Scarborough Gold Club Rd., these sites opened their doors at 5 p.m. today.
The city also has access to a fifth warming centre at Cecil Community Centre at 58 Cecil St., but this location is only activated as a surge site when the temperature falls to minus 15 or colder. It is not being activated at this time.
Warming centres open when the weather falls to minus 5 C or colder or when Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a winter weather event warning. They are open 24 hours a day, as needed.
Temperatures are expected to fall to minus 6C in the GTA tonight, but it’ll feel more like minus 8 C with the windchill.
Warming centres are part of the City of Toronto’s Winter Services Plan for people experiencing homelessness. They exist to offer a place for vulnerable people to rest, have a meal, access washroom facilities, and obtain referrals to emergency shelter with additional supports. All sites in the city are pet friendly.
Those in need of a warm place to stay can simply walk into a warming centre. It is not necessary to contactToronto’s Central Intake service to access one.
If a warming centre reaches capacity, those in need of a warm place to stay are provided transportation to another location, if there’s room, the city said on its web site.
The city said staff also work to refer poeple to alternate spaces in th sehleter system when when a warming centre closes to new admissions.