Shelter Design & Technical Guidelines

We’ve been retained by the City of Toronto to develop new design and technical guidelines for shelters providing support to people who are experiencing homelessness within the city of Toronto. We are drawing upon our extensive experience in developing nearly thirty shelters to date, supplemented by a tour of twenty existing shelters within the city, and extensive engagement of the community of shelter providers and people with lived experience through focus groups, surveys and interviews. We hope this new document will help share the best practices used by existing shelter providers across the family, youth, and singles and couples sectors, including such aspects as best practices for pet-friendly shelters, gender inclusivity, culturally supportive and non-discriminatory settings.