An emergency shelter for the homeless will likely open this winter in the Halifax area.

Advocates for the homeless met with Community Services Minister David Morse on Thursday. They told him that the closure of a church-run emergency shelter will leave about 50 homeless people without a place to sleep.

Morse said the meeting was instructive. "Obviously when you [talk] you discover areas where there are gaps. We discovered some of those areas today and we're moving forward on them."

The minister agreed that the region needs another homeless shelter, but he did not make any specific funding commitments.

A few weeks ago, Morse said Halifax did not have a shortage of shelter beds.