Burnaby activates overnight extreme weather shelter amid cold snap

After a chilly weekend and with temperatures set to drop further this week, the City of Burnaby has opened an emergency warming shelter for those seeking respite from the cold.

The centre, located at 7320 Buller Ave., will be open from 8:30pm until 8am until further notice.

“The Buller Avenue location was chosen for this service as it provides the necessary space and amenities,” the city said in a press release on Friday.

The city’s website says the centre has 20 spaces available during extreme winter weather. It operates in addition to several other emergency shelters across the city. Douglas Shelter (2294 Douglas Rd.), operated by Progressive Housing, is a 24/7 shelter with 40 spaces, as is the Emergency Response Centre at 3680 Sperling Ave.

Lookout Housing, meanwhile, runs extreme cold weather response shelters with approximately 20 spaces at Southside Community Church, 7135 Walker Ave. (open the 1st to the 15th of the month), and Westminster Bible Chapel, 7540 6th St. (open the 16th to end of the month).

The new shelter brings the total number of emergency spaces available under extreme weather conditions to about 120.

Burnaby Society to End Homelessness Carol-Ann Flanagan has said previously the shelter space available is far from adequate to support unhoused folk in the city. She’s also raised concerns about the lack of a permanent warming shelter in Burnaby.

She noted that an increased frequency in extreme weather events, both during the summer and the winter, means that demand for shelter and services has sharply spiked in recent years.

“I think most outreach organizations right now, we’re all feeling a little thinned out. Climate change is here. I think when I first moved to BC, almost 30 years ago, I didn’t even have a winter jacket,” Flanagan told the Beacon in late November.

“I had a fall jacket for most of the winter—and coming originally from Montreal, this was balmy weather. I can’t say that now. It is cold … So yeah, we’re all trying to do the best we can to serve our unhoused [community].”

The city said in a press release that in activating the emergency shelter on Buller Avenue, it’s following through on the recommendations included in Burnaby’s housing and homelessness strategy.