The Welcome Centre currently receives a higher funding level per bed for its shelter for women than the Salvation Army does for men. Besides the challenges with physical distancing at the Welcome Centre’s shelter for women, the current agreement with the Welcome Centre is not cost-effective for the City moving forward, given its small number of beds at the shelter for women, and a higher demand for women’s shelter beds than the facility is able to accommodate.

The Downtown Mission, which currently only receives funding from the City related to costs amidst the pandemic, may require additional funding from the City on an ongoing basis to align its services with the proposed service design and shelter standards. If funding continues to be provided to the Downtown Mission over the longer term, the City should engage in discussions with the Downtown Mission regarding aligning its services with the City’s current expectations for shelters and future shelter standards.

Moving forward, if the City is considering making changes to its number of funded beds, shelter service providers, or overall shelter composition, funding of $23,629 per bed per year (the lowest rate provided to the shelters pre-pandemic), is a funding level that would have allowed most shelters to provide services that align with those being recommended in this report (including three-meals per day). Amidst the pandemic, it is estimated that approximately $6,000 per bed per year (lowest rate provided to shelters during the pandemic) would cover the costs of additional cleaning services for 8 hours a day, additional staffing assistance, local pandemic pay top-up for staff, pandemic related supplies and equipment, as well as additional transportation costs.

Given the number of changes that are required to meet the shelter needs, achieve the proposed shelter composition, and align services with the proposed service design and shelter standards, it is recommended that the City undertake a procurement process to establish a shelter system and funding levels that align with the recommendations in this report.

Performance metrics, outcomes and performance measurement methodologies

It is recommended that the City establish system targets for length of stay, percentage of exits to permanent housing, and returns to homelessness and ensure quarterly reports are prepared for each shelter on these performance measurements. The reports should be regularly reviewed during the meetings with shelter service providers and used to inform changes to the shelter and broader homelessness service system.

Service Agreements should identify expected performance for specified performance indicators (e.g. 10% greater than system average from previous year for time spent homeless, exits to permanent housing, returns to shelter, and client satisfaction).

The use of HIFIS 4.0 should used by all shelter service providers.

HIFIS data should also be used by the City to understand shelter use patterns and detect changes, identify frequent users, and reduce length of time spent in shelter.

Standards and service agreement content