The City of Saskatoon is stepping up the level of its winter emergency response plan ahead of a cold snap expected this weekend.
Temperatures in Saskatoon are expected to drop as low as -30 C on Friday, with wind chill making it feel as cold as -40.
In light of this, the city has activated Level II of its emergency response plan until Monday. This plan helps mobilize over 40 organizations across the city to make sure everyone stays safe from the cold.
“We get daily updates from them about what kind of numbers they’re seeing, what the issues are, what resources they might need and we coordinate to make sure that there is enough resources out there that people have places to be, that people are looking out for each other,” said Pamela Goulden-McLeod, director of emergency management at the City of Saskatoon.
The second level of the city’s emergency response plan is enacted when temperatures are expected to reach -30 C and wind chills are at -40 for at least two days.
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Level III of this plan is more extreme — with the -30 C temperatures and wind chills of -40 expected for at least 10 and five days, respectively.
Saskatoon experiences up to 10 Level II events per year, said Goulden-McLeod, adding that it has never reached a Level III. Despite this, she says the current level should still be taken seriously.
“There is no safe place to be when it’s – 40 if you’re outside for any length of time.”
Organizations offering warming spaces are starting to make note of their numbers this year, with many noticing an all-time high compared to this time last year.
“At the peak of the winter season we were seeing just over 100 guests. This year we’re already up in over 120 a few nights, and we’re not even quite technically at winter yet,” said Major Gordon Taylor, executive director of Salvation Army.
Taylor attributes much of the uptick in demand to the higher Point-in-Time (PiT) count this year, which measures the number of those facing homelessness on a single day.
This year, the City of Saskatoon is reporting a record homeless count of 1,931 — continuing the rising trend of homelessness in the city.
“The needs are different. The way that we meet people shifts,” said Scott Wood, director of floor operations at The Bridge, a non-profit community organization that partners with the city as a warm-up location during the day.
“It’s not sitting at a converse and having a conversation the same way as it is making space so someone else can join the table, it’s recognizing the urgency and the cold outside and pivoting and moving a little faster,” said Wood.
Despite the surge, the Salvation Army says they continue to make space for those in need and make every effort not to turn anyone away.
“We can handle the numbers that are coming, we could handle a bit more, but if it continues to get even higher and gets to the point where it’s too many for the space, then that’s where it’ll become a real concern,” said Taylor.
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