Council endorses homeless hub plan, despite concerns about cost and capacity

The City of London has moved a step closer to approving a multi-million dollar plan to open a series of neighbourhood service hubs intended to provide life-saving supports and pathways to housing for those suffering through an increasingly deadly homelessness crisis. 

The plan was approved by a 11-4 vote in council sitting as the Strategic Priorities and Police Committee after almost six hours of discussion held solely to debate the hub plan. 

Months in the making, the plan will allow the city to enter a procurement process to set up three to five hubs before the end of the year, with the possibility of expanding to up to 15 hubs in the future. 

The hubs will be places where those who sleep outside — they number about 2,000 — can get access to basic services such as food, water, a temporary bed, bathroom and shower facilities but also begin the process of accessing supportive housing. The hubs are intended to stabilize the most acute cases so they can be safe while they're assessed and connected with the services they need.

The report says the need for expanded services is urgent as more than 200 people who have a history of accessing services in London have died since 2020.

Councillors on Monday debated the plan, raising questions about its cost, which a city report says will include an annual operating cost of $2.7 million per hub, along with an estimated $2 million capital startup costs. City manager Lynne Livingstone said the city will need help from senior governments to help fund the plan. A fund of $25 million donated by a family that wishes to remain anonymous will also help cover the costs. 

There were also questions about where the hubs will be located, but their locations won't be known until the city receives requests for proposals from the agencies expected to bid on contracts to operate the hubs. In response to councillors' questions, staff said each hub will be housed in a building between 8,000 to 10,000 square feet in size, near an arterial road, not close to schools or parks and on land zoned for emergency care establishments. 

Coun. Susan Stevenson, who's been a regular critic of the city's plan, questioned whether the hubs will have enough capacity to create a significant improvement. She also pointed out that the staff report outlining the plan only became public last week, and argued it didn't give enough time for people to understand the plan.

"There is not time to really digest something that is so important to them," said Stevenson. "We're talking about bringing these hubs into their communities and they care passionately about this crisis that we face." 

In response to Stevenson's concerns, councillors pointed to the city's engagement efforts on the broad strokes of the plan, including multiple community engagement sessions and 1,500 responses to the city through various forms of feedback. 

Mayor Josh Morgan said he expects the plan will need some adjustment as the hubs get up and running. He also pointed out that it was designed by a group of stakeholders that included everyone from medical professionals, to business leaders and people who provide frontline care for people who are homeless. 

"The City of London played an important role in this system but it is not the City of London's system," Morgan said. "This belongs to the community, it was designed by the community." 

Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen put forward a motion to hold a special committee meeting to discuss the plan and include a public participation meeting before it moves ahead.