Toronto shelters turned away about 273 people each night in June, new data shows

An average of 273 people a night were told there was no bed available for them in Toronto homeless shelters in June — a new record high for the city, newly released data shows.

Homeless advocates tell CBC Toronto they believe the number is very concerning and believe the number may be an undercount. Many are calling for more shelter beds, permanent and affordable housing, an increase in Ontario Works rates and rent control for all new tenants. 

The data is from the city's central intake, a telephone service that offers referrals to emergency shelter, other overnight accommodation and information about homelessness services. It can be found on the city's Shelter System Requests for Referral page, which lists monthly average data from the city since June 2021 on the number of callers who are "unmatched to shelter" at the end of the day.

This past June, the "average daily number of unmatched individual callers" was 273.5, a new high up from 219.9 in May, when the average first exceeded 200. The spike in numbers followed the city's announcement on May 31 that it would refer asylum seekers to federal programs and services, saying its shelter system was at capacity and calling for more funding from Ottawa.

"Close to 300 individual callers seeking a bed are left unmatched for shelter space each night – 45 per cent of whom are refugees," the city said in an email on Sunday. 

'It's shameful,' says activist

A. J. Withers, an activist who has studied the Toronto shelter system extensively, said the number is likely higher than reported because the city doesn't include families in its count of "unmatched individual callers."

"This crisis in the shelter system is worsening, which is is deeply concerning," they said.

"There are hundreds of people every night who cannot get into the shelter system, and we know that many people give up. That number also represents a lot more people who stopped calling. It means that many people are sleeping outside.

"The city has basically abandoned its most vulnerable people. And it's shameful."

Earlier this month, the city said in an email that it has "more shelter beds per capita than any other large Canadian city." But despite adding more than 1,000 new shelter spaces in the last year, the system remains "at capacity most nights."

Withers said the city needs to open about 2,000 shelter beds immediately to try to meet the need.

A combination of rising rents, a lack of rent control for new tenants, rising food prices and inflation are all making life unaffordable in the city, Withers said. All three levels of government are to blame and could make different choices to improve the lot of unhoused people, they added.

City may need to expand family shelter system: Tanner

June's record-high number comes as the city is working to find lodgings for ayslum seekers. Last week, Black-led organizations stepped in and found shelter for the asylum seekers mainly in two churches in North York. The asylum seekers were sleeping on city sidewalks downtown outside a homeless support centre as different levels of government fought over funding for shelters. 

In a statement on Friday, the city said it has taken "swift action" to secure emergency accommodations for the asylum seekers. The city said it has secured hotel rooms and it is moving the asylum seekers in, with the aim of increasing lodging capacity for a total of 250 individuals, as per direction from city council.

The city's central intake has a separate process for unhoused families with children, called the family placement process. Through this process, families can access additional resources through Ontario Works and Toronto Employment and Social Services to access space in hotels until a shelter space becomes available. The city said it operates 14 family shelter programs and provides shelter and support to more than 2,450 people. 

But it may need to expand the family shelter system, said Gord Tanner, general manager of the city's Shelter Support and Housing Administration.

10,418 'actively homeless' in Toronto in last 3 months

In a July 5 interview with CBC Toronto, Tanner said the city's shelter system is under unprecedented strain. He said the city has about 9,000 shelter beds and is supporting about 170 families outside of the shelter system in hotels while they wait to get into the system.

Tanner said the city has long used hotels hotels to support families, whether asylum seeking or not, but may need to invest further in family shelters to meet the demand.

"It's something that we're taking a close look at... Children [are] involved in many of these situations and we need to take extra care and make sure we're doing our best to support families in the best way we can."

According to the city's Shelter System Flow Data page, there are 10,418 people considered "actively homeless" in the last three months in Toronto.

Last week, the federal government announced it would provide $212 million for the Interim Housing Assistance Program, which provides funding on a cost-sharing basis to provinces and municipalities to cover the costs of interim housing for asylum claimants. Of that amount, $97 million would be earmarked for Toronto.  

Could mean 'life or death': advocate

Mei Wang, an advocacy worker at the Weston King Neighbourhood Centre, a non-profit community centre that serves Weston and Mount Dennis neighbourhoods, said on Monday that the number is not surprising. 

"It's been hard calling central intake for people," she said. "Since September... it hasn't been an ideal situation. Sometimes you have to call all day, like three, four, five phone calls and then you might be able to find a bed for someone."

In some cases, workers calling three times a day per person for a week still couldn't secure a bed, she said. At that point, are given sleeping bag and go to an encampment, she said.

"The social safety net is not working. Something is off here and I think it's the city and the federal government's responsibility to do something about it," she said.

Wang said it is important to point out that unhoused people seeking shelter may be fleeing abusive situations, and when there is no shelter space immediately available, they may have to return to their abusers.

In remarks at a council meeting on Thursday, Mayor Olivia Chow spoke about her mother's experience fleeing abuse, saying, "We need to give hope to women and children that are experiencing violence now, and one way to give hope is to say that you can recover."

Added Wang: "They may feel it is so difficult to get help from anywhere else, they may feel isolated, they may feel helpless.

"It could mean life or death for some people."