Airbnb is extending its support program for front-line health workers to the Toronto region, partnering with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to provide free housing to its members during the COVID-19 crisis.

The short-term rental platform is running similar partnerships in New York, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Toronto is the first Canadian city to receive the direct support, the company announced Thursday.

Airbnb’s San Francisco-based CEO Brian Chesky has committed $500,000 (U.S.) of his own money to pay for rentals in Toronto homes.

It’s “a welcome and appreciated donation,” given that many union members “are hanging on by a string right now,” said SEIU president Sharleen Stewart.

The SEIU represents about 25,000 personal support workers, registered practical nurses, dietary aides, developmental support workers and maintenance workers in the GTA, 60,000 in Ontario. Most earn between $15 and $35 an hour.

The $500,000 budget is being given directly to SEIU to administer, said Airbnb Canada’s public policy manager Alex Dagg.

“SEIU represents the kind of people we’d like to be able to help out if we can,” she said.

The Airbnb assistance was negotiated before the province offered long-term care employers crisis funding to pay to house workers in hotels — a benefit some are failing to provide, said Stewart.

Stewart said the Airbnb donation does not let employers off the hook from finding hotel accommodations for workers.

“We are not going to discharge the employers from their obligation,” she said.

Many union members are confronting difficult circumstances as the work during the pandemic and often depend on food banks and shelters, said Stewart.

One worker was kicked out of a shelter when it was discovered she worked in a nursing home. Shelter workers feared she would bring COVID-19 into that setting, said Stewart. The SEIU member was then moved to a motel, but when her occupation became known there, police were called to remove her. The police refused.

Finally, said Stewart, “After days of the union negotiating with the employer over the fact that they are getting money from the government to house these people, they put her in another motel,” she said.

“Had we had this with Airbnb we would have made sure this poor woman didn’t have to be abused and discriminated against the way she was,” Stewart said.

Another union member moved into his garden shed to avoid infecting others in his home. Some workers are living in trailers in their driveways to avoid infecting families and housemates, said Stewart.

The Ontario government did not respond before deadline to the Star’s questions about how many employers are accessing the accommodation support funding.

With 50 or 60 per cent of workers at some long-term care homes off sick or in isolation, the remaining employees are frequently working double shifts. This means they are going home, changing their clothes, sleeping and heading back to work.

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Accommodations close to their workplaces would be helpful, “so they can spend less time travelling and more time resting when they have that downtime,” Stewart said.

Participating Airbnb hosts must provide a separate entrance and adhere to Airbnb’s enhanced cleaning measures, which include protocols for personal protective equipment and approved cleaning products. Rentals must be unoccupied for 24 to 72 hours between stays.

“We typically are not doing condos because of the common entrance,” said Dagg.

About 5,700 Canadian Airbnb hosts have already opted to help front-line workers during the crisis.