Guelph will explore the idea of a daytime shelter to address the significant gaps in services for the homeless population.
Mayor Cam Guthrie said council looked at how other cities are addressing the same issue, and that the need for a daytime hub has only increased since COVID-19.
Councillors unanimously approved the idea to explore options for a daytime shelter at a council meeting on Tuesday.
“It hasn’t dissipated at all. In fact, in some cases, it’s a growing concern for individuals that need some sort of a daytime space,” Guthrie said.
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Nighttime shelters in the city are open between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., and he said that leaves some unhoused people with nowhere to go during the day.
Guthrie said resources such as information sharing, food and washrooms could be in the shelter either for housing stabilization or mental health and addictions counselling.
Council wants to ensure there are accountability measures to keep the community safe.
“If taxpayer money is going to be sent to these new daytime shelter hubs, we would have some sort of respect and good neighbour policies to make sure that things are being run appropriately,” he said.
Council will next ask for proposals for the daytime shelter.
Guthrie said the hub may not require any capital funding to build a facility because there are providers starting to do this work.
“If the city wants to provide for this, then we might need some capital, but really it’s to find out what would the ongoing operating costs be for whoever a successful partner or partnerships might be and then we can evaluate when those proposals come in,” he said.
The proposals will be brought back to council before the 2026 budget is tabled.
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