The Strathcona Hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada opened in 1933. It has been used as a homeless shelter since 2020.
The Strathcona Hotel is 14-storey, 194-bedroom boutique hotel owned by the Silver Hotel Group.[1] [2] It is located across the street from the Fairmont Royal York hotel.
The hotel opened in 1933.[3] In 1935, the owner persistently pushed John Kidd, the municipal hotel inspector, to permit dancing in the dining room.[4] Kidd rejected this, but encouraged his supervisory board to consider permitting dancing in hotels.
The hotel briefly appeared in the Suicide Squad 2016 movie.[5]
In April 2020, the hotel was rented by the City of Toronto for six months to provide temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness.[6] In October 2020, the lease was extended by another six months. The city paid the hotel $592,243 per month, representing $100 per room per night, totalling $7.5 million per year, plus the cost of providing food to residents. In December 2022, a former resident of the hotel was fatally stabbed outside of it.[7]