Andre Bermon –
Coexisting every day among the Victorian rowhouses on Cabbagetown’s Parliament Street are visible homelessness and patio pints. It’s a stark juxtaposition in a neighbourhood caught between commerce and care.
The local Business Improvement Area (BIA), a business lobby that works closely with the city, is starting to feel the pressure of this reality.
A three-storey commercial property just west of Parliament, 233 Carlton Street, is about to be transformed into a 24-hour drop-in centre for women. Further east, Carlton House, which opened on May 5, houses refugees with mental health needs. In addition, Dixon Hall’s long-awaited supportive housing project on Parliament, a block north at Aberdeen Avenue, is expected to open sometime this year.
This is in addition to other social services and Toronto Community Housing sites already present in the wider Cabbagetown/Moss Park community.
Given the city’s worsening homelessness and mental health crises, supporting those most in need is always the right approach. What’s unique to the Downtown East, however, is the concentration of these social services in a relatively small area.
According to the Cabbagetown BIA, many businesses are still recovering from the economic fallout of Covid-19, further strained by the city’s decision to increase social services here. This has led to a growing sense of imbalance between the city’s responsibility to support vulnerable residents while sustaining local economic vitality.
It’s not impossible to serve both business owners and homeless people in crisis – but the city’s habit of approving social programs without consultation while downplaying their potential impacts undermines public trust and long-term success.
The soon-to-open women’s drop-in centre on Carlton Street is a case in point.
Once the headquarters of Save the Children, the social enterprise founded by Marc and Craig Kielburger, the building was leased to the city in July 2019 for a hefty $6 million over 10 years. In addition, the city committed $3.7 million for renovations. (The total cost in 2019 dollars just shy of $10 million allowed the city’s housing and shelter administration to skirt formal expenditure permissions from City Council. This was also a convenient way to sideline public consultation.)
233 Carlton was selected for the new Adelaide Resource Centre for Women after the city decided to convert the original drop-in into housing. What followed was a years-long saga marked by extensive renovations, public scrutiny over transparency, a prolonged minor variance appeal from local residents, a national scandal involving the Kielburgers, and delays caused by Covid. In the end, Fred Victor, a Toronto-based non-profit, was chosen to lead the new operation.
According to the city, the drop-in centre will operate 24 hours a day but will not function as a shelter (overnight beds will not be available). Women will have access to laundry and shower facilities as well as mental and physical health care that includes harm reduction support and referrals to services.
Residents and business owners who spoke to the bridge expressed concern that the drop-in centre poses safety challenges for the surrounding community. They’ve asked the city for security measures including deployment of community safety teams of security personnel and outreach workers to monitor the area and respond when needed.
So far, the city has made no formal commitments. Fred Victor has pledged to open lines of communication with local stakeholders, but some residents feel this amounts to little more than the bare minimum.
Of course, safety concerns at this point are purely speculative, as the drop-in centre has yet to open. But equating the neighbourhood’s anxiety with outright NIMBYism oversimplifies the situation.
Toronto is experiencing unprecedented levels of economic disparity, reflected by the increased visibility of homeless people and those experiencing mental health issues. In the Downtown East, home to several marginalized communities, the downturn in both economic stability and social well-being is likely to be felt most acutely.
Intensifying social services in the area during a growing urban crisis risks turning Cabbagetown’s business district into collateral damage. This would affect not only the immediate community but the overall vitality of Toronto’s downtown core.
A more balanced approach would involve dispersing services across multiple neighbourhoods. However, it would not be practical or appropriate to ask agencies and programs already operating in the Downtown East, some for decades, to leave or shut down without a comprehensive city-led strategy.
Here’s what Toronto Centre (Ward 13) Councillor Chris Moise could do:
First, work with the city’s Shelter and Support Services division to visually map out each social service agency in the Downtown East. Identify their programing, capacity and hours – and any overlap, gaps and redundancies.
Second, the councillor should himself participate in the ongoing roundtable discussions among stakeholders and service providers. While he serves on various city committees, constituency work is also part of his job. His presence would signal accountability, foster trust, and help ensure that community concerns are not only heard but integrated into real-time decision-making.
Third, push for dedicated funding for community safety teams that blend security and outreach. (A possible funding mechanism could be through the Downtown East Action Plan.) Have them work closely with local BIAs and resident groups to maximize coordination and effectiveness.
Lastly, the councillor needs to continue advocating for city-wide distribution of social services, ensuring more equitable placement beyond the Downtown East. This may require updating the criteria for where new services are placed.
These problems may be complex, but some solutions are just around the corner. Cabbagetown need not choose to be a place of commerce or care when it could effectively be both – given leadership and support from our city government.
