As the first major snowfall blankets eastern Canada, warming centers from Halifax to Vancouver are already operating beyond capacity, forcing difficult conversations about sustainable solutions to what has become a year-round housing emergency.
“We’re opening doors earlier than ever this year,” explains Darren Wilson, who coordinates Toronto’s Network of Emergency Warming Locations. “But we’re doing it with roughly the same resources as last winter, despite seeing at least 30% more people needing our services.”
The math simply doesn’t add up. According to the latest point-in-time count from Statistics Canada, visible homelessness increased by 22% nationally in 2023, with early 2024 figures suggesting that trajectory continues upward. Most alarming is the demographic shift – more families, more seniors, and more first-time shelter users than previous winters.
I spent last Tuesday evening at Ottawa’s Parkdale United Church, where volunteers transformed the basement into a 45-bed warming space. By 7:30 pm, every spot was taken. A middle-aged woman who identified herself as Maureen told me this was her first winter without stable housing.
“I worked the same office job for 12 years,” she explained, arranging her few possessions neatly beside a cot. “Then rent went up $600 last spring. I stayed with friends until I couldn’t anymore.”
Her story echoes what frontline workers across provinces report – the changing face of homelessness in Canada reflects broader economic instability. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s latest rental market report shows average rents increased 8.7% year-over-year, far outpacing wage growth.
“We’re seeing people who never imagined they’d need our services,” says Amina Hassan, executive director of Calgary’s Community Warming Network. “The profile has changed dramatically. These aren’t just people with complex needs – though they certainly deserve dignified solutions too. These are working people, pensioners, and young adults priced out of housing.”
The federal Reaching Home program, Canada’s homelessness strategy, received a $562 million boost in March, but municipalities report these funds are stretched thin across competing priorities. Local organizations express frustration that emergency responses continue to dominate rather than permanent solutions.
In Halifax, where housing pressures intensified following multiple climate disasters and population growth, the situation appears particularly dire. City councillor Lindell Smith acknowledges the gap between need and resources.
“We’ve approved three additional warming centers this winter, but we know it’s not enough,” Smith told me during a phone interview. “The real challenge is that we’re spending millions on emergency measures when that same funding directed toward affordable housing would actually solve the problem.”
The cycle feels painfully familiar to those working in the sector. Temporary winter responses absorb resources that could otherwise fund sustainable housing. Meanwhile, underlying issues – restrictive zoning, insufficient social housing investment, and inadequate income supports – remain largely unaddressed.
A recent parliamentary budget report estimates Canada needs approximately 165,000 additional affordable units to address current housing shortfalls. At current construction rates, meeting this need would take decades.
Last month in British Columbia, the province announced a controversial approach – enforcing the dismantling of encampments while simultaneously opening more temporary shelters. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon defended the policy as “balancing compassion with community concerns,” but advocates question whether sufficient permanent options exist.
“You can’t enforce your way out of a housing crisis,” remarks Dr. Emily Richardson, who researches housing policy at the University of Victoria. “The evidence consistently shows that without adequate permanent housing pathways, shuffling people between temporary spaces just creates more trauma and instability.”
Some communities are attempting innovation within constraints. In Winnipeg, the Mama Bear Clan has transformed a former community center into a 24-hour warming space that emphasizes Indigenous approaches to care and dignity. Their model includes peer support workers with lived experience.
“We understand what people need because many of us have been there,” explains coordinator Jenna Highway. “This isn’t just about survival – it’s about creating community when systems have failed.”
While touring their facility last month, I noticed something striking – the absence of institutional aesthetics that typically define emergency shelters. Instead, the space featured artwork, comfortable seating areas, and private nooks where people could maintain dignity.
But even successful models like this face sustainability challenges. Most operate on patchwork funding that requires constant renewal and advocacy. Staff burnout remains high, and the emotional toll of turning people away when at capacity creates moral injury among those most committed to helping.
For Canadians experiencing homelessness, the approaching winter brings impossible choices. Joseph, a 62-year-old I met outside an Ottawa warming center, described sleeping in a parking garage stairwell when shelters fill up.
“The concrete holds heat better than the street,” he explained matter-of-factly. “You learn these things when you have to.”
His pragmatism reflects the reality many face as temperatures plummet – adaptation rather than resolution. The question that lingers is whether Canada’s approach to homelessness will finally evolve beyond seasonal emergency responses toward the proven solution: housing people.
Until then, warming centers will continue doing what they can with what they have – opening doors to those left in the cold by policy failures that transcend any single government or budget cycle.
The situation demands more than compassion. It requires political courage to prioritize sustainable investments over stopgap measures. For people like Maureen, Joseph, and thousands of others, the solution isn’t particularly complicated – affordable housing with appropriate supports. The challenge remains summoning the collective will to deliver it.
