A new report going to Windsor City Council next week is recommending that a decision on funding 12 additional emergency shelter beds for single women at the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families be delayed.
The report will go to council on Monday and recommends that the roughly $192,000 funding request be considered as part of the 2027 budget process rather than approved immediately.
City staff state that available data does not show a recent increase in unmet demand, noting that the number of women turned away from shelters has remained relatively stable over the past three years, averaging about 230 turnaways annually.
The report adds that while single women may occasionally be turned away because beds are unavailable, families with children are not, with the city funding overflow motel accommodations when necessary.
Staff also warn in the report that converting existing family shelter space into beds for single women could reduce capacity for families and increase the city’s reliance on motel accommodations during periods of high demand.
Ward 9 councillor Kieran McKenzie, who first brought the motion forward in June, says the report still shows women are being turned away and council needs to hear directly from those on the front lines.
“The turnaways are happening more frequently at the Welcome Centre than at any of the other shelters, according to the report. So to me, the need remains. I’m looking forward, very much looking forward, to having the opportunity to have the discussion in the council chamber with the delegates, with folks that have lived experience, but also are providing those services.”
He says the report doesn’t fully recognize the unique role the Welcome Centre plays in serving vulnerable women.
“They could, in some instances, find shelter at another facility such as The Mission. There’s a great number of women who don’t feel safe in that facility. And that’s really what this comes down to. Whether or not we want to publicly acknowledge that or folks want to recognize that that fundamentally is the issue and that we have an opportunity through providing a little bit of additional funds to be able to address that need.”
McKenzie says the financial picture has changed since the request was first made.
“That $190,000 was looking at the service need to be fulfilled throughout the entirety of the fiscal year. If we’re looking now at being able to bring that service capacity in their facility to the end of Q4 of 2026, we’re looking at a significantly reduced number.”
Meanwhile, Lady Laforet, the shelter’s executive director, says looking only at the overall shelter system doesn’t reflect what women are actually experiencing.
“They’re looking at data saying ‘the system has space’, and yet the one gendered shelter is at 99 per cent capacity and the co-ed shelters women beds are only at 78 per cent capacity. We’re turning women away daily still, day after day. That story is telling us what research already did, the importance of gendered spaces.”
She says there are women who call every single day looking for shelter space.
“There’s also a lot of women who are calling, and when they get a turnaway, continuing to call day after day after day. And that’s something for the community to take into consideration, is that there are women who are choosing staying in their vehicle, staying in the bathroom of local restaurants, staying in parks, sleeping in encampments, and continuing to call us day after day.”
Laforet says the comments from council that this should’ve been discussed prior to the 2026 budget is unfair.
“I’d already put in a request for provincial funding that I thought I was getting at that point. So really, I wasn’t in a position to put forward an ask until the budget was already done. So really, my hand was forced that it was either, do we ask for emergency funds to get us through the year, or do women just suffer for a year and we try again next?”
Administration also cautions that approving one agency’s funding request outside of the regular budget process could create expectations among other homelessness service providers facing financial pressures.
The report notes several community agencies are experiencing budget challenges and says funding requests should be considered alongside other municipal priorities during annual budget deliberations.
Council is expected to debate the recommendation on Monday.
-with files from CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru