TTC asks city for 10 extra outreach workers to help people using transit for shelter

February 7, 2025 Canuck

The TTC is asking the City of Toronto to provide funding for 10 additional outreach workers to help support unhoused individuals using the transit system for shelter.

Since 2020, the city has partnered with the TTC to provide outreach workers through its Streets to Homes program.

But advocates like Lorraine Lam with the Shelter and Housing Justice Network told CBC Toronto that adding more outreach workers is a “Band-Aid solution” to a much larger issue.

“There’s not existing shelter beds that we could take people from the streetcar to — the hospitals are jammed up,” Lam said. “So sure, fund more outreach workers, but you’re asking outreach workers to essentially do a job that’s also impossible.”

In January, the TTC board approved TTC staff’s 2025 operating budget, which includes the proposal to add 10 street outreach workers to downtown streetcar lines, focusing on overnight routes. The proposal is included in Mayor Olivia Chow’s final budget, which goes to city council on Feb. 11.

“The safety of our customers and operators is our top concern and use of outreach workers is one of the many initiatives we’ve used to improve that,” TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said in a statement.

A young woman in winter wear smiles for the camera on a Toronto city sidewalk. An empty street is in the background. It's sunny. — Lorraine Lam, with the Shelter and Housing Justice Network, says more outreach workers on the TTC won’t be effective if they have no shelter space to send people to. (Ethan Lang/CBC)

Twenty Streets to Homes staff were employed in 2024 “to support people in need across the transit network, focusing on hotspots, to help individuals connect to shelter, housing and wrap-around supports,” a city spokesperson said via email.

Streets to Homes also provides harm reduction counselling and referrals when necessary.

According to city data, 7,844 TTC site visits were made by Streets to Homes workers in 2023, with 517 resulting in a shelter referral. In 2024, 9,179 TTC site visits were made, with only 122 resulting in a shelter referral.

In some cases, city workers refer people to LOFT Community Services, an agency that’s provided case management to individuals in partnership with the city since 2023.

“I certainly see the need for more outreach to engage individuals, whether they’re outdoors, whether on the TTC, whether they’re on the shelter or hotel system,” said Ryan White, a program manager with LOFT, who welcomed the push for more outreach workers.

“We certainly do need more engagement with the vulnerable population,” he said.

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More outreach won’t fix lack of shelter beds, advocates say

But adding more outreach workers won’t help much if there’s still nowhere for people to go, Lam says.

The city has struggled with shelter capacity in recent years. In October, city staff said around 200 people are turned away from shelters every night. City data shows that number dropped to an average of 114 people a night in December 2024.

“One of the worst things to have to do is basically like in the dead of winter, hand somebody a sleeping bag and say, ‘sorry, this is the best thing I’ve got … I hope you don’t freeze to death tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow,'” Lam said.

Chan McNally is pictured outside. — Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto community worker and expert in harm reduction, says with more outreach workers, the city needs to also work on creating more space and offering better services to those in need. (Tyler Cheese/CBC)

Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto community worker and expert in harm reduction, agreed and said the city and the TTC need to think bigger.

“Any increase in the number of outreach workers also has to come with a request — whether that comes from the TTC or whoever — that we also need to increase indoor space available for people,” Chan McNally said.

But she says it’s also about more than just space.

“What kind of resources are you providing people?” Chan McNally said. “Do you have meals available? Are you able to give them warm clothing if they don’t have enough?”

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Canada News

TTC asks city for 10 extra outreach workers to help people using transit for shelter

More outreach won’t fix lack of shelter beds, advocates say

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