The City of Toronto is facing questions about the cost of guards it deploys at locations like homeless shelters and encampments, with various private security companies signed up to contracts worth a total of roughly $109 million.
Data shared with Global News by the city shows Toronto is currently tied into eight separate private security contracts, predominantly for services relating to homelessness.
Three contracts for security at shelter respite centres are worth $44.8 million in total, while another contract for shelter core sites runs to $15 million. There’s also an agreement with Garda Canada Security Corporation to provide “encampment support” at $11.9 million.
Separately, the city has a $4.8 million contract for security at the St Lawrence Market Complex, $14.8 million for Union Station and $18.2 for a contract simply described as private security guards at “city-wide locations.”
Those contracts are worth $109 million in total, if the city exercises its options to run them to their maximum length. They were signed in 2024 and 2023.
So far this year, across all of those agreements, city hall has shelled out $35.2 million.
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A spokesperson for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said private security works alongside in-house teams to ensure there is 24/7 monitoring at 1,500 city facilities.
At encampments, the spokesperson said teams are deployed to monitor the sites and notify outreach teams, as well as identify safety risks.
“The primary response to encampments is outreach and connection to social services through the encampment protocol,” they said in a statement to Global News.
Coun. Brad Bradford, who has already declared his intention to run for mayor next year, said the high private security costs were the symptom of a failing homelessness policy.
“I think it’s something that we should look into because $109 million is a pretty significant figure,” he told Global News.
“Part of that response from the mayor is to have 24-7 security (at encampments). Not to connect these individuals with shelter or housing, but really just to stand there, take notes and monitor.”
Some of the city’s encampment issues this year have focused on Dufferin Grove Park, where Toronto has endeavoured to remove an encampment, with the support of police and private security.
In October, for example, city vehicles removed as many as seven tents from the park, after a previously cleared encampment popped up again. City staff and police led that operation, with private security also on the scene.
Bradford said the money going to private security teams could be spent on police or other services that have more power to intervene at encampments or if safety issues arise.
“If it’s just about taking notes and then calling the police, a lot of Torontonians would probably feel like you could cut out the middleman,” he said.
“I’d rather see that investment in front-line police officers who have the tools, resources, the training and the mandate to take action when action’s needed.”
Chow’s office said security is part of the annual budget and there are “no plans to change this.”
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