Toronto unveils winter homelessness plan with 1,533 more shelter and housing spaces

The City of Toronto on Monday (November 9) released its 2026/2027 Winter Services Plan for People Experiencing Homelessness, adding up to 1,533 shelter and housing spaces between November 15, 2026 and April 15, 2027 — 18 per cent more than last year — with an emphasis on both emergency response and moving people into permanent housing. (Image: file photo of Toronto City Hall in the snow.)

How the new spaces break down

The new spaces include up to 588 permanent supportive and subsidized housing units, about 505 new shelter and 24-hour winter respite spaces, 254 Warming Centre spaces at five sites, and approximately 186 additional surge capacity spaces. Warming Centres are activated when temperatures hit −5°C or during winter weather event warnings; surge spaces open during extreme cold, when temperatures hit −15°C.

Longer drop-in hours and stronger street outreach

The city is also extending operating hours at several daytime drop-in programs, which provide food, health care, showers, laundry and recreational activities, adding 252 extra hours of service each week. Additional street outreach teams will be dispatched during extreme cold to encourage people to come indoors, and staff provide warm clothing, sleeping bags and other cold-weather supplies all winter.

Homelessness falling in Toronto, rising across Ontario

The city says it is currently accommodating nearly 7,000 people each night, down from about 9,000 last year, and the number of encampments has fallen by about 67 per cent, from more than 353 in October 2025 to about 118 in October 2026. More than 4,158 people have moved from the shelter system into permanent housing in the last year, and Streets to Homes has made 461 shelter referrals from encampment locations since January 1, 2026. A new report by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario found homelessness rose 17.9 per cent across Ontario between 2022 and 2025, but fell 8.2 per cent in Toronto. The city warns the momentum is at risk without stable funding agreements from all three orders of government.