Cedar Place, a women’s shelter operated by the Salvation Army in Sudbury, says it operates at capacity year-round as more and more people knock on the door.

In 2019, CBC reported that Cedar Place was turning away about 150 people a year due to a lack of beds available at the shelter. Now the charity has had to turn down more than 300 applications for shelter in September alone.

Cedar Place has 28 beds for women and their families. During last year’s budget deliberations, it secured an additional $300,000 a year in municipal funds to expand its capabilities.

Still, chief executive Barbara Ridley says demand far outstrips supply.

“Last year, we were at 98 percent occupancy. This year, we’re at 100 percent,” she said.

She says the number of people being referred elsewhere is a record for Cedar Place and that demand has increased as winter approaches.

“It’s not uncommon for us to bring in a family of two or three who have lived in their car and operated that way.

“As it gets colder, they become more concerned about finding shelter,” she said.

Increase in the number of new arrivals, asylum seekers

The organization has also started keeping track of where people come from in an attempt to understand this growing demand.

“We have made the decision to begin identifying new arrivals with refugee (or asylum seeker) status,” Ridley said.

She says she is concerned about their ability to find housing in Greater Sudbury, which currently has a historically low vacancy rate.

Most of all, she’s worried about them being sent to Cedar Place for help.

“What worries me is: How do they get here? Who gives them our name?”

She worries that poor information about social services available in Sudbury is pushing people to make the trip, only to find the resources they were hoping for aren’t there.

For now, the City of Greater Sudbury has run a program to temporarily house asylum seekers and their families in hotels.

A city spokesperson told CBC in an email that eight families have been supported since May 2024.