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DONATIONS VIA CHANGE.ORG ARE ONLY TO BOOST THE PETITION AND THESE DONATIONS DO NOT GO TO TINY TINY HOMES] 

Petition: 

To Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto City Council,

As you are aware, in 2023, Toronto declared homelessness an emergency. On December 12, 2024, the Toronto Ombudsman found that the city had failed to meet its obligations under its own Toronto Housing Charter. Toronto has repeatedly been criticized for failing to protect the human rights of homeless people in a number of ways, including inadequate shelter provisions, unsafe encampment clearings, and insufficient support services.

With city shelters over capacity, an average of 273 people are turned away each night due to a lack of space. As a result, vulnerable individuals are left with no option but to sleep outdoors in tents, doorways, and unsafe conditions—every winter night. Now, in 2025, two years on, homelessness remains an emergency, and our parks are still full of highly flammable tents. The ongoing housing and shelter crisis has not been solved.

For years, the city has failed to protect its homeless population. It is no surprise, then, that compassionate citizens have stepped up to find solutions to the problems City Council continues to ignore. Community-led initiatives like Tiny Tiny Homes and their emergency shelters provide an immediate, life-saving response for those in need.

Homeless women are ten times more likely to die. People with disabilities and cancer should not be forced to survive by sleeping in doorways. Tiny Tiny Homes has taken some of Toronto’s most vulnerable people off the streets, providing them with warmth, safety, and dignity. The organization has asked Toronto City Council to work collaboratively to identify safe and suitable locations for their emergency shelters—so they can continue to provide life-saving support to those in need.

In January, our Founder and Chairperson already met with City Officials and discussed the future and goals of Tiny Tiny Homes. In that meeting, Tiny Tiny Homes requested that the City provide an approved space to locate the shelters and requested a continued dialogue. The meeting was positive and forward looking. However, instead of continued discussions, on February 7, 2025, legal counsel for the City of Toronto issued a letter to Tiny Tiny Homes, stating that the City cannot permit the installation of these structures for occupation on City property and requesting their removal. 

The letter also warned that if Tiny Tiny Homes did not reply by February 14, the City would consider legal, enforcement, and other steps to remove the structures. Despite acknowledging the vulnerability of those currently relying on these shelters, the City’s letter does not provide a clear plan for ensuring those individuals have safe, appropriate alternatives before enforcement actions proceed.

Of all days, Toronto City Council has set a February 14 deadline—a day meant for love and compassion—for Tiny Tiny Homes to respond to its letter or additional action would be taken. This deadline places vulnerable individuals—including a woman, a disabled cancer patient, and someone suffering from PTSD, whose symptoms make overcrowded shelters unsafe for them—at risk of further displacement without an immediate, viable solution.

Toronto prides itself on being a compassionate and equitable city. Yet by choosing Valentine’s Day—a day meant for love and kindness—as the deadline for dismantling a life-saving initiative, the City sends a clear message to Canada and the world: Toronto is not addressing this crisis with compassion or care.

Forcing the removal of emergency shelters does not solve the city’s homelessness crisis. Nor does it ensure the safety or dignity of our homeless neighbours or even remove them from public spaces. The City has both legal and moral obligations to address homelessness. Its current strategies are failing, and alternative solutions must be explored.

We call on the City of Toronto to:

1. Engage in meaningful collaboration and dialogue with Tiny Tiny Homes. Don’t waste taxpayer money pursuing legal action against those trying to help.

2. Help Tiny Tiny Homes secure suitable alternative locations for their emergency shelters—so those currently sleeping in parks and doorways have a safer, warmer, and more dignified place to sleep.

Toronto cannot turn its back on its most vulnerable.

We demand immediate, compassionate action to protect the lives of our homeless neighbours.