What to know
- The City of Toronto has confirmed it will not renew the lease for a city-run homeless shelter at 545 Lake Shore Blvd. W., which is set to expire on Sept. 30, and the shelter will close later this year.
- Community members have raised safety concerns about the shelter, citing alleged incidents of violence, drug use, and disorder in the neighbourhood, including through a petition with more than 1,000 signatures.
- The city says the closure is part of a broader shift away from temporary shelters, citing stabilized shelter demand and ongoing efforts to move people into permanent housing.
- The shelter will stop accepting new admissions on May 1, with work underway to relocate clients into permanent housing in partnership with shelter operator Homes First.
The City of Toronto says the lease for a downtown homeless shelter will not be renewed, as calls for the site’s removal continue to grow amid ongoing safety concerns.
A recently launched petition is urging the city not to renew the lease for a city-run shelter located at 545 Lake Shore Blvd. W., which is set to expire later this year. The petition states that the surrounding community can “no longer tolerate the threats to [their] safety anymore.”
The petition was launched by a group called the Atrium Security Committee and has garnered more than 1,000 signatures. It claims that since the shelter opened in 2019, residents have witnessed incidents including beatings, robberies, muggings, and assaults against local residents, including seniors, which the group attributes to the shelter’s presence.
The group also alleges that abandoned drug paraphernalia is frequently found throughout the neighbourhood.
In addition, the petition claims that staff at a daycare located across the street from the shelter feel unsafe and no longer take children for walks around the block due to ongoing safety concerns.
“Some female seniors will no longer go out after dark due to previous assaults. We witness regular overdoses and comatose people passed out in our nearby parking lot and on our sidewalks,” the petition reads.
While the group is calling on the city not to renew the lease, which is set to expire in September, the City of Toronto says a decision not to renew has already been made and that the shelter will be closing later this year.
According to the city’s website, the shelter was originally opened to provide additional capacity during periods of high demand.
The city says shelter demand has been “stabilizing” since 2024, citing a decline in the number of refugees entering the shelter system and continued efforts to move people into permanent housing.
“The City is working to gradually transition out of more costly, temporary shelters and into purpose-built shelters that are smaller, more cost-effective, reliable, and responsive to client needs,” the city’s website says.
As a result, the shelter will close when the lease expires on Sept. 30. The city says the site will stop accepting new admissions beginning May 1.
Work is currently underway to relocate clients affected by the closure into permanent housing, in partnership with Homes First, the organization that operates the shelter.
The city says residents who do not move into permanent housing will be moved to appropriate shelter programs and continue to receive support.
