Northumberland County Council today passed a motion directing changes to the operation of the emergency shelter and warming/cooling hub located at 310 Division Street, Cobourg. With this decision, which follows months of public dialogue around the shelter model and service impacts, Council seeks to better balance support for vulnerable populations with broader community well-being.
The direction approved by Council includes the following actions:
· Closure of the ground-floor warming/cooling hub by July 4, 2025.
· Development of options for relocating the warming/cooling hub to another location in Northumberland, with a report to be brought forward for Council’s consideration.
· Preparation of a report for the July 30, 2025, Social Services Committee meeting outlining the process and timelines to transition the shelter to a higher-barrier model focused on individuals with low-to-moderate complexity of needs.
“These decisions were not made easily,” stated Warden Brian Ostrander. “Council has listened over the past seven months to a broad range of perspectives from across the community, on both the benefits the modernized shelter has delivered to date, as well as the challenges. We remain deeply committed to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness. We also recognize the need to respond to concerns raised by the broader community, in particular neighbours and business owners near 310 Division Street.”
The transition, in November 2024, from a 22-bed shelter in a heritage home at 10 Chapel Street, Cobourg to a 47-bed modernized facility at 310 Division Street was an ambitious move to respond to escalating homelessness in the region. The facility – designed as a low-barrier shelter to ensure the greatest level of access in response to increasingly complex needs—nevertheless has been operating in a local context where addiction and mental health services remain limited. This has made service delivery particularly challenging and, in turn, has contributed to visible pressures in the surrounding community that have raised concern among residents and businesses.
“The situation in Northumberland lays bare that addiction, mental illness, and housing affordability are intersecting crises impacting communities across Canada—not just large urban centres,” said Warden Ostrander. “The reality is that small and rural municipalities like ours are increasingly on the front lines, with limited resources and limited authority to address what is fundamentally a health and housing crisis. While the operational changes we’ve made today may shift how local shelter services are delivered, the underlying issues remain.”
Council recognized during today’s discussion that transitioning to a higher-barrier shelter model will restrict access for some individuals currently using services at 310 Division — particularly those struggling with significant substance use and mental health concerns. Members acknowledged that these individuals need specialized supports that are currently lacking in the community – and stressed that municipalities cannot shoulder the work alone to increase their availability.
“Municipal governments cannot effectively address these crises on the backs of the property tax base,” stated Warden Ostrander. “We urgently need meaningful provincial investments in addiction treatment, detox, supportive housing, and mental health care. We continue to join our municipal counterparts across the province in calling on our provincial partners to address these issues with the funding and solutions that are desperately needed.”
County staff will begin working immediately with Transition House Shelter to develop the operational and contractual changes required to transition to the new service model. Further updates will be provided in the coming weeks as timelines and plans are confirmed.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
