Masks not being mandated in Toronto homeless shelters, letter to staff says

A Toronto street nurse is raising the alarm over the city's decision to leave homeless shelters out of a bylaw that mandates masks in all public indoor spaces. 

"It was really quite a shock to discover," said Toronto street nurse Cathy Crowe when she heard shelter users aren't required to wear masks. 

Under a recently enacted bylaw, masks have been mandatory in all public indoor spaces in Toronto for over a month. That requirement was later expanded to include common areas in condo buildings on Aug. 5. 

But in a memo sent to shelter staff from the City of Toronto, shelters, respite services, and other indoor congregate living settings "are not considered enclosed/indoor public spaces." While mask-wearing may be "encourage[d]" in common spaces, the note also says it will not not be providing any masks for shelter users.

"That makes no sense. That's a red herring," said Crowe, who is also a professor at Ryerson University. "It is enclosed, it is indoor, and there are... so many common areas."

Toronto homeless shelters see a lot of crowding, making physical distancing and social bubbles difficult to maintain — which also underscores the importance of mask-wearing, says Crowe. 

She is calling on medical officers of health to take stronger leadership to keep the homeless population in the city safe during the pandemic.

"I think it's just incredibly backward in terms of our medical officers of health across the province who are really not enforcing a bylaw for homeless people."

She says the city has put the safety of homeless people on the backburner during the pandemic despite them being some of Toronto's most vulnerable populations. 

"Everything is procrastinated when it comes to them. They were the last to get mass testing... And screening has not been effective. Encampments are not getting water or toilet facilities and now we have the issue of masks."

"There's certainly no leadership from medical officers of health on this [and it] should be coming from them," Crowe adds.

City only providing masks for staff, not shelter users

The City of Toronto defended its position on shelters and other indoor congregate living settings not being considered public spaces under the city's bylaw, but says mask use is encouraged.

"While not required, mask use by clients in shelters is encouraged while in common spaces," Brad Ross, spokesperson for the City of Toronto, said in a statement to CBC News. 

He said an initial distribution of some reusable face coverings were provided for the shelters to give to clients but shelters should make masks available themselves as needed for client use. The city will only continue providing PPE supplies for shelter staff.

"If providers have difficulty sourcing masks for clients, we will work with them to do so."

In a separate statement, Ross said masks in common areas "are encouraged, but not mandatory," and that they are following public health and legal advice. 

But while there are currently no active COVID-19 outbreaks in the shelter system, Crowe says she isn't sure that is enough.

"This is an issue that is going to be with us well into 2021," she said. 

She hopes the city will get a budget for distributing masks to shelter users and provide education to them on the importance of wearing them.