Toronto is in dire need of a large emergency shelter and unless immediate action is taken, people are at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying on the streets.

That is the tone and content of a letter addressed to Mayor John Tory and signed by more than 30 Toronto agencies involved in finding long-term solutions for homelessness, providing front-line services and fighting for affordable housing.

What they want is for the city to find a large space — including but not isolated to the city’s two military armouries — where people could be safely housed over the winter.

“As the weather intensifies and we experience frigid temperatures, people who are homeless experience an increased risk of dying due to overexposure to the extreme cold,” wrote the authors. “We urge City Council to open the armouries or a similarly large facility immediately.”

Tory’s office received the letter Monday afternoon, a spokesperson confirmed. The authors intended to officially present the letter Tuesday morning.

The armouries have been used as emergency shelter before, but city staff — in response to repeated calls to open them this winter — have said it is not possible to use them to house large numbers of people in a safe, hygienic and dignified way.

Tory, in an interview with the Star earlier this month, said he trusts and relies on the advice of shelter staff, both when it comes to emergency shelters and longer term options. He said his office is constantly evaluating existing programs and seeking to do more.

“I am not satisfied that we have done everything that is possible to do, but I am certainly satisfied that we have made huge effort to do more,” he said. “We are looking constantly.”

On Sunday, according to city data, emergency shelters were at 94 per cent capacity, with women’s shelters at 95 per cent, and men’s shelters at 94 per cent. (That figure doesn’t factor in a 36 bed program for single refugee men that opened Monday night.)

Patricia Anderson, with the city’s Shelter Support and Housing Administration division, said they have extended the city’s cold weather drop-in programs until mid-March and added 150 hotel beds for families.

“We share the concern for vulnerable Toronto residents expressed in this letter, but City staff continues to put new programs and beds in place as a priority response to current occupancy rates in Toronto’s shelter system,” said Anderson.

Anderson said the Red Door shelter for families is expected to open a 96-bed temporary program next week. A 30-bed shelter for men was opened on Bloor St. W. in the second week of January, and in late December the city opened a 60-bed women’s facility on Kennedy Rd. Both filled in less than a week.

The urgency behind the letter was, in part, spurred by a plunge in temperature, expected to last the week.

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“Clearly, with the weather turning the way it is, we need to act now,” said Sean Meagher, executive director of Social Planning Toronto, one of the signing agencies. “We need practical solutions we can implement,” he said.

Meagher said the armouries may not be ideal, but they are better than the street. “The ideal solution is more affordable housing and more supportive housing.”

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