Chicago recently introduced warming buses to shelter unhoused residents this winter, and with Toronto facing housing and affordability issues, this raises questions about if the city should follow suit.
This comes following a recent study revealing that there is a concerning rise in homeless people turning to emergency departments for warmth and shelter.
The study, conducted by Dr. Carolyn Snider, chief of the emergency department at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto, found that non-urgent emergency department visits among homeless people increased by 24 per cent across Ontario between the winter of 2018 and the end of last winter in March 2023.
Now Toronto reached out to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to find out whether allowing people to shelter on busess possible to implement in the city.
In response, the TTC said that it has recently partnered with the city to transport those seeking shelter to warming centres and shelters using TTC buses.
“…While the numbers are relatively small at this point, we know as the weather turns colder, the potential for more transports will increase. Our objective is to ensure those seeking shelter get it, so no one is left in the cold,” TTC Spokesperson Stuart Green said in a statement on Tuesday.
The TTC is expected to announce an update on this initiative at its board meeting sometime next week.
Back in October, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that the city will be sending warming buses at 16 police stations and providing essential items such as blankets and coats in order to protect its unhoused residents and new migrants.
There are over 68,000 Chicago residents currently experiencing homelessness based on numbers from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.
“We will continue exploring all options to provide temporary shelter, which includes working with aldermen, the State of Illinois, and communities across the city in supporting efforts to move new arrivals indoors and off the floors of O’Hare Airport and police district stations,” the mayor’s statement read on Oct. 31.
According to a report by WTTW News, there were approximately 3,344 men, women and children who were sleeping on the floors of police stations across the city and at O’Hare Airport.
