'There is no new Winter Response Program': City leaving homeless Londoners out in the cold this winter

An unhoused person sleeps on a doorstep in this undated file photo (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

Life in London’s homeless encampments will get even more dangerous when winter weather arrives because city hall is not providing a Winter Response to Homelessness this year.

The most recent count of people known to be living unsheltered in London is 335—although city staff acknowledge that the actual number is likely higher.

However, only a handful of additional temporary shelter beds are expected to open to offer relief from the cold and snow this winter.

“Just over a dozen, 12 to 15 spaces that organizations can flex,” explained Kevin Dickins, Deputy City Manager of Social and Health Development. “All the organizations have looked at where they can convert space into temporary accommodation and what the challenges, limitations, or opportunities might be. There are no other alternatives.”

In recent years, London has boosted the number of shelter spaces during the coldest months, including 120 spaces operated by Ark Aid Street Mission last winter.

Mayor Josh Morgan acknowledged that some Londoners will be left out in the cold.

“None of our Winter Responses have ever had enough beds to cover all of the need in our city. It is a massive problem, not just in London, but across the province, and the country,” Morgan told CTV News. “It is a problem that other levels of government have started to fund, in a more meaningful way, but would recognize that the funding is not sufficient.”

There are currently 396 shelter beds in London – and they are in high demand.

Shelter beds operated by Ark Aid Street Mission on William Street, seen on May 3, 2024. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

The Salvation Army has decided that 31 of those beds slated close will instead remain open until spring.

Additional temporary spaces will also come online when the Middlesex-London Health Unit declares an Extreme Cold Weather Alert.

However, that requires a forecasted low temperature at or below -15C, a wind chill of -20C or below, or a Cold Alert/Cold Warning issued by Environment Canada.

“Some [agencies] have protocols in place for when the Middlesex-London Health Unit issues an Extreme Cold Weather Alert that they're able to temporarily, for a short period of time, expand some space within their building to provide some overnight accommodation or ‘in-out-of-the-cold’ accommodation for small numbers of people,” said Dickins.

An unhoused person ties their shoe amongst snowflakes (CTV News London, File)

Earlier this year, council extended funding to Ark Aid Street Mission to continue operating 90 of the spaces that were part of the previous Winter Response until December 31.

Further extending the beds to provide year-round service is the subject of a $4.23 million funding request in the 2025 Municipal Budget.

“We continue to struggle as municipalities to be the frontline of these challenges, which are in most part not a function of the decisions that municipalities have made,” the mayor added.

Budget deliberations begin on November 21.