The City of Toronto has issued an extreme cold weather alert, effective immediately, to help get homeless people in from the cold. This is in effect until further notice.

An extreme cold weather alert is issued when extremely cold weather is forecast. This type of severe cold weather is hazardous to homeless people who are sleeping outside.

Street Helpline operates 24 hours a day to help homeless people and front-line workers know where to find shelter and other services. Street Helpline can be called toll-free at 1-866-392-3777 from any payphone. Members of the public can phone this number if they see a homeless person sleeping
outside.

An alert is in effect when Environment Canada:

- predicts a temperature of -15 degrees Celsius or lower, without wind chill
- issues a wind chill warning for outdoor activity for people in the Toronto area, and/or
- predicts extreme weather conditions, such as a blizzard or ice storm.

Under the alert, the following extra services are available to help homeless people:

- 80 additional emergency sleeping spaces in Toronto shelters
- enhanced street outreach services, including emergency transportation to shelters, provided by Agincourt Community Services Association Inc., Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre and Salvation Army - Gateway
- emergency TTC tickets are available at a number of drop-in centres to help homeless people reach shelters.