WATERLOO -- Waterloo Region’s demand for more emergency shelter was a thoroughly discussed point during a Tuesday council meeting.

In the end, councillors directed staff to pursue finding two dormitory style locations for men to meet shelter demand in the next six to 12 months

Staff were also asked to explore alternative housing options and bring a report back in the fall.

Council was presented with overcapacity information of shelters in the region for 2020, which stated that they were running at roughly 120% capacity on an average night during the year.

This meant that they were, on average, 60 people overcapacity during February and 40 people overcapacity in May.

Temporary pandemic shelters at St. Mark’s Church, A.R. Kaufman YMCA, and the Radisson Hotel provided 211 additional spaces.

The regional agenda states that the peak occupancy for single men in Kitchener during 2020 is 144 and that emergency shelter capacity must expand to meet demand.