Winter closing of Toronto shelter hotel causing ‘chaos’ for some, advocates say

The shelter site at what was formerly the Novotel Hotel Centre in downtown Toronto was leased by the city after the pandemic hit.

With a week to go before homeless residents have to leave a Toronto hotel-turned-shelter, some say they don’t know where they’ll end up once they have to move out while advocates say the timing means many could be left to fend for themselves in the cold.

The shelter site at what was formerly the Novotel Hotel Centre in downtown Toronto was leased by the city after the pandemic hit.

The city began using hotels for those experiencing homelessness after hundreds fled shelters in March 2020 for fear of contracting COVID-19. The hotels offered an alternative to encampments that cropped up in parks and allowed additional space for physical distancing.

Now, however, the property owner of the Novotel site intends to convert the venue back to a hotel in the new year, the city said. Residents were given notice that they had to relocate by Dec. 6, with the city saying it was working with them to find other shelters or permanent housing.

But individuals who live at the site, as well as those who work with them, say not all residents have been able to find alternative housing ahead of the deadline.

“I’m really, really scared. Right now there’s no plan in place,” said Betty Ames, who has been staying at the Novotel shelter for six months.

“I don’t want to be outside, it was not in my plan.”

Ames, who works as an overdose prevention worker, said she can’t go into a congregate shelter setting because of a heart condition that could put her health at risk. She said she had been offered an apartment at one point but wasn’t allowed to view it before signing a lease so she refused. She said she’s since been trying to secure housing on her own to no avail.