The Downtown Mission is shutting down its temporary shelter at 850 Ouellette Avenue.
Speaking on AM800's the Dan MacDonald Show, executive director Ron Dunn says the closure goes into effect Thursday at 5pm.
He says the mission will keep two staff members at the site to provide navigation and referral to the temporary shelters currently in place to house people experiencing homelessness.
"What we're doing now is offering navigation," says Dunn. "So what we found is when we make a call and say hey guest so and so is here, this is where he slept last, just a little bit of information sharing, the aquatic centre is now able to process them more quickly."
He says he does not regret reopening the site.
"We hope that it ends any conflict between us and the city," says Dunn. "We've been working with Dr. Ahmed's team at the health unit all along so there's no conflict there."
Dunn says the plan is to reopen the mission's existing locations.
"It will allow us to go back to the business of reopening our other two sites while still providing for people who were kind of left out," he adds.
As heard on AM800 news, the mission reopened the former central library branch earlier this week to accommodate up to 35 homeless individuals.
The mission claimed individuals were turned away from the downtown aquatics centre and the city's isolation and recovery centres. Mayor Drew Dilkens denied those claims and the city issued an order to close the temporary shelter.
A COVID-19 outbreak has closed the mission's main sites on Victoria Avenue and Ouellette Avenue.