Tory says he is ‘working on’ increasing shelter capacity

Toronto, Mayor John Tory says he can see that the city’s shelters are “full” even if the occupancy statistics suggest otherwise.
Tory made the comment in a one-on-one interview with CP24 on Tuesday, in which he discussed the extreme cold, the deaths of two homeless people on city streets last week and a recent tour he took of a men’s shelter and a referral centre for the homeless.
The comment marks a major departure from former Mayor Rob Ford, who previously contended that a 96 per cent occupancy rate was proof that beds are available.

In fact, in April, 2013 Ford voted against adding about 200 shelter beds to the city’s network because there were already “more than enough.”
“I understand that (shelters are at capacity) and it was one of the reasons that I was out at Seaton House and Peter Street last week to see for myself. Statistics and reports aside, I can see that they are full and all I can say is that I am working on that,” Tory said. “Obviously it has to be part of a process that involves finding the money to pay for it but protecting people is something that I am very interested in doing and I am taking the measures necessary to improve upon the present situation.”
The city has more than 4,000 shelter beds available at any given point; however advocates for the homeless have long pointed out that the beds aren’t necessarily available to everyone, with certain facilities open exclusively to men, women, youth or families.
Speaking with CP24, Tory said the city has to address the “root” causes of homelessness, such as unemployment and a lack of mental health services while finding ways to increase shelter capacity.
The city’s shelters were occupying at a 93 per cent capacity on Monday night, though with the temperature plummeting to a low of -13 C tonight, there could be even fewer beds available.
“All we can do is make sure there is a place available for them to go and continue to work at the real root of this in making sure people can get proper help for mental health, can get a job if they are in a situation where they are unemployed and can have access to affordable housing,” Tory said. “These are all big files but I ran for mayor because I wanted to address these things.”