Need help right now in Scarborough? Start here.
Food, emergency shelter, crisis lines, housing help and emergency money — the official services that exist for Scarborough residents, gathered on one page and checked against each organization's own official source. This page is free. No signup is needed to read any of it.
Every listing shows the date it was last checked and its official source. We publish information only — the organization running each program decides who qualifies, and their official page is always linked so you can confirm for yourself.
Crisis — help right now
If your safety is at risk, call 911.
9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Helpline (Canada): call or text 9-8-8 — a safe space to talk, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. 988.ca
自杀危机热线：拨打或短信 9-8-8，全天 24 小时，有真人接听。
211 Ontario: dial 2-1-1 — real people, 24/7, in 150+ languages. They connect you to social services, programs and community supports near you. Text and live chat Mon–Fri 7am–9pm ET. Online: on.211.ca
社区服务热线：拨 2-1-1，真人接听，提供中文等 150 多种语言服务。
Emergency shelter
Central Intake — City of Toronto emergency shelter Open
The City of Toronto's single entry point for emergency shelter. If you need a shelter bed tonight, call 416-338-4766. The same city page links onward to 24-hour respite sites, drop-ins and housing help.
紧急庇护统一入口：416-338-4766。
Food in Scarborough
SCHC Food Bank — Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities Open
4100 Lawrence Ave East, main floor (buzzer 293). One of the busiest food banks in Scarborough. You can receive 1–2 days of food, once a week, and choose items based on your preference and availability. You receive food the same day you register; no documentation is required on your first visit (a form of ID is encouraged).
Market hours: Wednesday 9:30am–12:00pm and 1:00–3:30pm · Thursday 2:00–4:30pm · Friday 9:30am–12:00pm and 1:00–3:30pm. Take-out meals: Tuesdays 12:00–1:00pm.
Please call to book an appointment in advance: 416-847-4147 · FoodBank@schcontario.ca
ACSA Food Centre — Agincourt Community Services Association Open
A food bank run like a grocery store: you select your own food items rather than receiving a pre-packed basket. ACSA also runs drop-in meal programs and maintains a Food Asset Map of food resources across Scarborough (food banks, low-cost meals, delivery services). In 2025 the Food Centre served 106,573 households. Locations and current hours are on ACSA's official page.
Feed Scarborough — Scarborough Food Security Initiative Open
Six food banks across Scarborough, plus an online food bank and a mobile healthy-meal program serving over 2,000 meals a week. Feed Scarborough serves over 7,500 residents every week. Each location's address and hours are listed on their official site.
Daily Bread Food Bank network — find a food bank near you Open
A network of 131 agencies running 221 food programs across Toronto, including many in Scarborough. Food bank programs provide up to 3 days of groceries, and you can visit any food bank in the network once a week. Use Daily Bread's “Find a Food Bank” tool on their site to find the closest location and its hours.
Housing help & emergency money
The Housing Help Centre — Scarborough Open
Free help to find and keep housing: one-on-one housing help, landlord–tenant mediation, and eviction prevention. Their rental listing database is updated every week — you can pick up a print copy in Scarborough. They are also a local access point for the Toronto Rent Bank and for energy-arrears help (LEAP, EEF, OESP) — you can call or walk in without an appointment. Scarborough drop-in locations (libraries and service offices) are listed on their official page. Call 416-285-8070.
Ontario Emergency Assistance Open
Temporary financial support from the Province of Ontario if you are in a crisis or emergency and do not have enough money for basics like food and housing. For example, a single person may get approximately $733 a month; support can last up to 48 days, and more may be available depending on your situation. Applying online takes about 15–20 minutes; your local Ontario Works office will contact you within four business days. Per the official page, people already receiving Ontario Works or ODSP do not qualify for this program — those programs have their own emergency supports, and 211 (above) can point you to them.
We are building two more Scarborough lists the same careful way — one for renters (rent help, energy-bill credits, transit discounts) and one for families (child benefits, child care help). Leave your email and pick your list: we will email you when your list opens, and then before its deadlines — the dates that are easy to miss and expensive to miss. Reminder signups are free during the pilot.
We store only your email and your pick, and use them only to send the reminders you asked for. We never sell or share them. If a signup is never used, we delete it after 90 days.
Your report is how this page stays correct — and how we learn what actually worked. No name needed.
We record only what you type here. Reports are read by a person, checked against the official source, and the page is fixed if the information was wrong.
Coming next
Two full Scarborough lists — Renters and Families — built and checked the same way as this page. A list opens only when every item on it has been checked against its official source; we would rather open late than open with unchecked information. The reminder signup above is the way to hear when yours opens.
FAQ
Is everything on this page free?
Yes. Everything on this page is free to read, with no signup and no paywall — and it stays that way. Emergency information is never charged for here.
Who decides if I qualify for one of these programs?
The organization that runs the program — always. We publish each program's official information and link to its official page. We never decide, promise, or estimate anyone's eligibility.
How do you keep this information correct?
Every listing is checked against the organization's own official page before it is published, and re-checked on a schedule after that. The date each listing was last checked is printed under it, together with the official source. If we find an error, we fix the page and record the error — we do not quietly edit and move on.
What happens to my email if I sign up for reminders?
We store only your email address and the reminder topics you pick. We use them only to send the reminders you asked for. We never sell or share them, and if a signup is never used, we delete it after 90 days.