What to know
- Toronto has activated seven warming centres and dispatched additional street outreach teams as extreme cold brings wind chills near –20 C, with even colder conditions expected later in the week.
- The pet-friendly centres are open 24/7 and provide essential services including meals, showers, washrooms, resting spaces and referrals to emergency shelters.
- Temperatures are expected to remain dangerously low through the week, with wind chills reaching as cold as –24 C by Friday.
- City officials are urging people experiencing homelessness to come indoors and access warming centres during the prolonged cold snap.
The City of Toronto is activating warming centres and dispatching additional street outreach as temperatures plummet to -20 C with wind chill on Tuesday.
According to the city, seven warming centres have been activated in response to frigid temperatures on Tuesday that will see daytime highs close to -10 C, but feeling around -22 C with the wind chill.
The centres are located at:
- 81 Elizabeth St.
- 885 Scarborough Golf Club Rd.
- 136 Spadina Rd.
- 349 George St.
- 12 Holmes St.
- Surge Site (Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre)
- Surge Site (Cecil Community Centre)
In addition to the centres, the city says additional street outreach has been dispatched to encourage people to come indoors.
Warming centres are pet friendly and offer essential services and facilities such as resting spaces, meals, showers, washrooms, and referrals to emergency shelters.
Once open, the warming centres remain open until 24 hours a day until the city determines that locations will close.
Frigid temperatures are expected to remain throughout the week, on Friday the city is expected to see temperatures near -11, according to Environment Canada. This is expected to continue into Saturday with temperatures near -9 C.
