With record-breaking temperatures still hanging over Toronto, the Moss Park Armoury has opened as an emergency shelter for the homeless — two days earlier than expected but weeks after activists first demanded it.

“While all of us in public service can face criticism as we work to address big, complex problems, I also want to acknowledge . . . (the) capable, fast-moving, responsive, caring work” of city staff responding to the urgent situation, Mayor John Tory told reporters at city hall Saturday as he announced the respite centre’s 7 p.m. opening.

The move came a month after Tory and a majority of council voted against a motion to ask the federal government to open the armouries at Moss Park and Fort York for use as emergency shelters, a tactic used in the past. The mayor faced criticism for his decision.

Tory said Friday he now supports the use of armouries because city staff warned him that a temporary shelter opened recently in the Better Living Centre at Exhibition Place could soon hit capacity.

“It was a long time coming,” said Cathy Crowe, a street nurse and advocate for the homeless who said she has been calling for the armouries to be opened since November.

“I’ve been involved in four previous armoury openings and it has never been this long and drawn-out and complicated,” Crowe said.

The federal government has approved the use of the Moss Park Armoury, a National Defence site, for the next two weeks. It is expected to shelter up to 100 people 24 hours a day. The city had asked for use of the site until April, Tory said.

Asked whether action on the armouries should have been taken sooner, Tory said he acted on sound advice from city staff.

“I think the staff advice that we got at the time was correct . . . the Moss Park Armoury wasn’t necessarily going to turn out to be as available as we needed it to be for the time we needed it,” he said.

The temporary armoury shelter will act as a “bridge” to the city’s use of a yet-to-be named downtown provincial site as an emergency respite centre, Toronto Liberal MP Adam Vaughan said Friday.

Tory would not provide details Saturday on the proposed provincial site.

Toronto is experiencing an “unprecedented demand” on its shelter system, Tory told reporters, driven by the record-breaking cold, an influx of refugees over the past two years, vulnerable people coming from outside the city because their needs aren’t being met in other communities and a “very significant” unmet mental health challenge.

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In addition to the opening of the armoury, the city has also added 100 beds at the Better Living Centre for a total of 200; 80 beds at the Regent Park Community Centre to make 180, and has arranged for the Wellesley Community Centre to remain open overnight if all other locations are at capacity.

With files from Jenna Moon and David Rider

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