Winter homelessness plan would surge shelter spaces and utilize Boyle Memorial Community Centre during cold alerts

Boyle Memorial Community Centre at 530 Charlotte St. in London, Ont. as seen on Sept. 25, 2025. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

After being caught flat-footed by a bitter cold snap in January, London city hall is proposing a new tiered response to better protect homeless Londoners when temperatures drop this winter.

A report to the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee recommends launching a temporary warming centre framework that would increase indoor spaces for homeless Londoners based on the month and external temperature.

“I was extremely pleased to see this report coming this early in the year,” says Sarah Campbell, executive director of Ark Aid Street Mission. “For many years it’s been late into the fall before we’re having this discussion.”

In January, city hall scrambled to open Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre as a temporary warming centre on the second night of a cold weather alert issued by the Middlesex London Health Unit.

Attendance peaked on the third and final night at 132 people.

Responding to a subsequent council direction to develop a framework for future winters, city staff are recommending a three-tiered approach:

Tier 1 (November 15 to April 15)

• All current shelters increase capacity by 5 beds (total 20 beds)

Tier 2

• Maintain current funding for Cronyn Warner shelter (70 beds) operated by Ark Aid Street Mission

Tier 3 (January and February below -15C or -20C windchill)

• Service providers open overnight warming spaces (50 spaces)
• Pop-Up Warming Centre at Boyle Memorial Community Centre (60 spaces)

The Boyle Memorial Community Centre was chosen as the preferred location by city staff after a review of municipally-owned facilities that met specific criteria including proximity to daytime services, access to public transit, and appropriate space needs (kitchenette, staff space, individual rooms).

The pop-up warming centre is estimated to cost $145,000 each year, assuming 10 days when temperatures will drop to -15 C with a windchill of -20 C. (based on the average number of days over the last five years when the threshold was reached).

Campbell is pleased the strategy reflects an evaluation of what was done last winter, but she emphasizes that the homelessness crisis doesn’t subside when temperatures rise above the threshold.

“If it’s an emergency at -20 C, it’s still an emergency at minus ten, minus five, plus five and at plus 25. We know that climate has an impact on people’s health and well-being,” she explains.

Campbell hopes to also see additional long-term funding commitments to address the growing year-round needs in London.

“In a city where we’re seeing 19 per cent growth in homelessness, those are the city’s numbers, where we see the desperation on our streets and in neighborhoods all across the city-- it’s yet to be seen if it’s enough,” she says.

Municipal funding to operate Cronyn Warner is set to run out in March 2026, but the proposed Temporary Warming Centre Framework would extend the year-round shelter through March 2027 at a cost of $3 million.

“I would have been pretty well in the street if I wasn’t here,” says John Kilburn who has been staying at Cronyn Warner for a couple months.

Since opening less than two years ago, over 140 residents have gone on to secure housing.

“It was basically a safe haven and a place that I could come and go to school and to study,” Kilburn explains.

The shelter has provided the stability necessary to continue his education in the Electric Vehicle (EV) Automotive Program through Fanshawe College.

In total, the Temporary Warming Centre Framework would result in 200 beds and drop-in spaces during cold weather alerts at an annual cost of $3,632,500 per winter.

The staff report recommends utilizing the strategy this winter and in 2026/2027.

The CAPS Committee will consider the Temporary Warming Centre Framework on Sept. 29.