Short on funds and shelter beds, Winter Response to Homelessness could leave many Londoners in tents
Many Londoners living in encampments will have to survive this winter outdoors after city hall had difficulty securing enough overnight shelter spaces.
A report to the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) asked city council to choose from four locations that could provide a total of 120 overnight shelter beds until May 31 at a combined cost of $3 million.
However, the city has one-time funding of just $1.8 million.
“We are looking for council direction on which options they want to choose, but at this point, we don’t have enough existing budget to address all four,” explained Kevin Dickins, deputy city manager of social and health development.
Ark Aid Street Mission has proposed operating:
- 30 beds at The Ark in the Old East Village ($826,686)
- 65 beds at 432 William St. ($1,472,739)
- 15 beds at the CMHA Coffee House on Hamilton Road ($404,323)
- 10 beds at CMHA My Sisters Place on Dundas Street ($335,216)
Some of the 600 high-needs individuals living unsheltered are expected to secure winter lodging with family or friends, but the number of winter beds available would still fall short of demand.
Outreach support to encampments will evolve to include cold weather resources like hand/boot warmers and blankets.
“We will have to keep turning our minds, as we have been for the last couple months, on what we are doing to support those that will not be coming indoors or that will remain outdoors for a period of time until they find a way to move indoors,” added Dickins.
The planning stages for a temporary Cold Weather Response began in July as part of London’s Whole of Community Response to Homelessness.
Thirty-one meetings were held with local agency leaders/operators to explore and request additional services this winter.
Civic Administration considered repurposing the Bob Hayward YMCA building after it closes Nov. 27.
However, agencies were unwilling and unable to operate the space with 100 beds, and a modified plan for 65 beds also drew no interest.
“It’s a great space for us to consider, we did consider it to the fullest extent,” Dickins told CTV News London. “We did try ways to make it work, and at this point we just want council to know this isn’t for a lack of trying.”
Council members will consider how many of the (up to) 120 winter shelter beds it will fund at the SPPC meeting on Tuesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

BREAKING Claims of toxic workplace at CSIS absolutely 'devastating': PM says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says allegations of a toxic workplace culture, involving harassment and sexual assault at Canada's spy agency are 'devastating' and 'absolutely unacceptable.'
TREND LINE Liberals and NDP tied in ballot support, Conservatives 19 points ahead: Nanos
The governing minority Liberals' decline in the polls has now placed them in a tie for support with their confidence-and-supply partners the NDP, while the Conservatives are now 19 points ahead, according Nanos' latest ballot tracking.
Sask. premier says province will stop collecting carbon levy on electric heat
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province intends to stop collecting the carbon levy on electric heat.
Here's when Canada Post says you should send out your holiday packages
Canada Post had released a holiday guide on when Canadians should mail out their packages.
What to know about the Sikh independence movement following U.S. accusation that activist was targeted
The U.S. has charged an Indian national in what prosecutors allege was a failed plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist at the behest of an unnamed Indian government official.
Filmmakers in Bruce Peninsula 'accidentally' discover 128-year-old shipwreck
Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick were looking for invasive mussels when they found something no has laid on eyes for 128 years.
Chinstrap penguins nod off more than 10,000 times per day in seconds-long 'microsleeps,' study finds
A new study has documented the peculiar sleeping habits of this species of penguin. Instead of taking one long continuous period of sleep, chinstrap penguins prefer to sleep in seconds-long intervals, more than 10,000 times a day.
Alternative healer faces manslaughter charge over woman's death at a U.K. slapping therapy workshop
An alternative healer who advocates a technique known as 'slapping therapy' was charged Thursday over the death of a woman at one of his workshops in England seven years ago.
Brazilian city enacts an ordinance secretly written by a surprising new staffer: ChatGPT
City lawmakers in Brazil have enacted what appears to be the nation's first legislation written entirely by artificial intelligence -- even if they didn't know it at the time.