Saskatoon groups scramble to protect vulnerable from extreme cold
When the weather dips below -30 C, you do everything you can to keep people safe, says Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI) President Shirley Isbister.
CUMFI provides a warmup space at its office at 315 Avenue M South from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
“We have people come in and they warm up and some people have a little nap, we serve hot chocolate and a snack and do our best to make people feel comfortable.”
When that closes, they transport people to shelters.
“I got a report on the weekend that all the inns were full, but the Ministry of Social Services made available more hotel rooms, so in this cold weather you just got to do whatever you can to ensure that people have a warm place to stay.”
A mass of extreme cold has settled over Saskatoon, with the polar vortex causing temperatures to dip below minus -30 C.
“It's a big mass of really cold air that sits around the North Pole, but it's fluid so it moves according to what the jet stream does,” said Terri Lang with Environment & Climate Change Canada.
“When the jet stream dips, we'll get a big blast of this cold air, truly dense and heavy.”
According to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, 14 people died of hypothermia or exposure in the province from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022.
The City of Saskatoon has activated its cold weather strategy to offer a warm place to people with nowhere else to go.
“There's the outreach task forces which are mobile vehicles that locate people to support and help them find shelter,” said Saskatoon Fire Chief Morgan Hackl.
CUMFI’s mobile housing and community resource centre is stationed at the Giant Tiger on 22nd street on Mondays and Tuesdays, at the City Centre Church on Wednesdays, and Freshco on 33rd street on Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
“There's the shelters themselves, the three shelters in the community. There's also warm up locations that are activated during the cold weather strategy, and then there's the overall advisory group, so we have a well coordinated plan in place.”
The only 24-hour shelter in Saskatoon will be at Prairie Harm Reduction opening later in December.
Hackl says there are homeless people living in 52 of the 65 communities in Saskatoon.
“We started a program where we proactively went out and formed relationships with those that are living rough in our community, those that are in makeshift shelters, those that are unhoused,” he said.
“From that we've had a number of successes where those people have accepted support and have moved into housing.”
Hackl says the boarded up houses are also a place where homeless people look for an opportunity to take shelter and warm up.
“The Saskatoon Fire Department has a proactive program called the demolition and property remediation process, which involves vacant and boarded properties,” he said.
“This program has seen a large decrease in the number of boarded properties in our community. It's also seen a decrease in the number of fires in boarded properties in our community.”
Lang says temperatures in Saskatoon will warm up on Wednesday, but not before temperatures go down to -37 C, feeling like -50 C with the wind chill.
“Dress appropriately, dress in layers,” she said.
“It's the air between your clothes that actually keeps you warm, and make sure all your extremities are covered, and again, just limit that time outdoors.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
'Tactical evacuations' underway near Fort Nelson, B.C., as wildfires encroach
The BC Wildfire Service says 'tactical evacuations' began Friday near Fort Nelson, B.C., due to an out-of-control wildfire that has grown rapidly since it was discovered earlier in the afternoon.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.