Hayley Murdoch-Fyke would never turn someone away on a night like this.
The executive director of the John Howard Society only has 18 beds to offer people needing to get off the streets in the minus 25-Celsius degree temperatures.
"I would bring them in and try to divert them to another shelter," said Murdoch-Fyke Friday afternoon as she scrambled to ensure they had enough staff to open early at 2 p.m.
Murdoch-Fyke is allowed to open for 45 nights per year on Simcoe County's dime until the end of March.
"So far, I think we've used 10 nights," she said.
But the Arctic blast that blew in Friday with a wind chill forecasted to dip down to -35 to 45 overnight, has warming shelters all across the region making up beds for their frigid guests.
In Barrie, the new Rose Street Shelter has 50 beds available, and the Busby Centre has another 50 on Mulcaster Street.
"We were not full (Thursday night), and we didn't have to turn anyone away," said Sara Peddle, executive director of the Busby Centre.
She said that the Busby also has a few flex beds and a motel voucher program if required.
In Barrie, there is also the Elizabeth Fry Society, serving women and gender-diverse people. The Salvation Army Bayside Mission serves men, and Youth Haven, serves youths aged 16 to 24.
Farther south, the Town of Innisfil and the Innisfil ideaLAB & Library also opened warming centres to pull people in from the cold until 5 p.m. The three library branches are also open Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
In Orillia, the Orillia City Centre is open Friday until 4:30, and the public library on Mississaga St. is open until 6 p.m. and will be open again on Saturday until 5 p.m.
Liam McEwen, a student placement worker at Orillia's Lighthouse shelter said they had 40 guests Thursday night but can fit 50 in a pinch.
"We're normally closed 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. but we're open today," McEwen said. "Community members aer staying here and helping out."
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
Montreal's seasonal parking restrictions go into effect Saturday. As of April 1, parking will be limited during certain hours to make way for street cleaning and maintenance operations. Drivers should pay close attention to street signs to determine when and where it's safe to park.
Police say the bodies of eight migrants have been retrieved from the waters off the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne, straddling the Canada - U.S. border. The people whose bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday consisted of two families of Romanian and Indian origins who were likely trying to enter the U.S. illegally, police said Friday.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
London police responded to Dundas Street, just west of William Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening for a reported shooting. According to police, one person is in custody.
A U.S. citizen charged with threatening death or bodily harm to Justin Trudeau made a virtual court appearance from a London jail Friday. Jeremy Joseph, 40 — who is living in Sarnia, Ont. — was arrested on Feb. 4, 2023 after Sarnia police were notified of emails containing threats.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating after a man was seriously injured while attempting to flee from OPP on Highway 401 Thursday afternoon.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
Windsor city council will debate the 2023 budget on Monday, and ratepayers are looking at a much higher than normal property tax increase, but not if some councillors get their way.
By day’s end Friday, the COVID-19 assessment clinic at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) will close, more than three years after opening at the height of the pandemic.
Windsor experienced the largest drop in its ranking for median household income growth, following a new report from Fraser Institute ― but local employment leaders say the city has all the tools to bounce back in future rankings.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
B.C.'s securities regulator has permanently banned a Vancouver lawyer from the financial markets after he was convicted in a U.S. court for his role in a US$34-million fraud.
