Convention centre to house homeless in Calgary during COVID-19 pandemic

Nenshi says the spread of COVID-19 into the homeless community is the top public health risk. (Photo by Jon Tyson/Unsplash)

CALGARY — Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it’s not his first choice to turn Calgary’s downtown convention centre into a temporary homeless shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But he says organizers have done an extraordinary job setting it up and have taken steps to ensure physical distancing is encouraged for anyone staying there.

Nenshi has said hotel rooms would have been a better option to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus through an especially vulnerable group, but the choice was up to the provincial government.

The temporary shelter at the Telus Convention Centre is being funded by the Alberta government and operated by Calgary’s Drop-In Centre.

It is to provide around-the-clock service for up to 300 people, freeing up space in existing shelters.

The temporary shelter is expected to operate for two months.

Nenshi says the spread of COVID-19 into the homeless community is the top public health risk. As of Tuesday, there were 453 confirmed cases in the Calgary area, and Nenshi said that could easily double or triple if the virus were to take hold in that population.

“That’s ultimately why we had to move forward with the convention centre, because it wasn’t helping anybody to continue in arguments about what the right model is while there were still 600 people staying shoulder-to-shoulder at the Drop-In Centre every night,” Nenshi said Wednesday.

“And I’ve got to say: the convention centre has really stepped up to the plate at making this as good as it could possibly be, given the model.”

Tim Richter, president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, said people with nowhere to go are more likely to have underlying health concerns that make them more susceptible to the virus. Nor do they have the means to self-isolate if they’re sick.

Provincial governments have been behind the curve in addressing the issue, he said, with many shelters reporting that they are ill-equipped with personal protective equipment and are understaffed.

“There is a very real possibility of a catastrophic loss of life of homeless people in Canada,” Richter said.

The convention centre shelter is the third-best option behind apartment housing and hotels, he added.

“We’re in the throes of a crisis and at this point we can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said.

“It’s not ideal. Nothing in this is ideal. But at this point anything that will … make people safer than they were I think is good.”