On Monday November 20th, 2017, the City’s Community Development & Recreation Committee (CDRC) called for the Mayor to declare a state of emergency and immediately open 1000 additional shelter beds after hearing from numerous groups about how the homelessness crisis is overwhelming our shelter system.

More than 5000 people use Toronto’s shelter system on any given night. Shelters are consistently above the 90% occupancy rate set by Council and shelter use by families has gone up 50% from last year. People are sleeping on the floors of churches and even the City’s own shelter referral centres to get out of the cold.

Watch our video below that features deputants from CDRC and calls attention to the shelter crisis.

Deputants in order of appearance: Cathy Crowe, Street Nurse, Visiting Practitioner, Ryerson Derek George, Member advocacy (St. Stephen’s Community House) Kira Heineck, Executive Lead, Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness Kapri Rabin, Executive Director, Street Health Tim Maguire, President, Canadian Union of Public Employees CUPE Local 79 Music: https://www.bensound.com Free B-Roll provided by videezy.com.