Commonwealth Stadium shelter to open Thursday night as temperatures drop close to -30 C

A shelter to house people experiencing homelessness from the extreme cold weather will open at Commonwealth Stadium Thursday night.

The shelter, operated by The Mustard Seed, will start with a capacity of 50 people and increase to 200 by Dec. 20.

Guests will have access to a bed, three meals a day and showers, the City of Edmonton said.

Boyle Street Community Services will operate an overdose prevention and treatment site at the shelter.

The shelter opens at 7 p.m. and guests can access it through Gate 5 on the west side of the stadium.

CTV News Edmonton meteorologist Josh Classen said temperatures are forecast to drop close to -30 C in the city of Edmonton by early Friday morning and outlying areas will likely hit the mid -30s C.

"Wind shouldn’t be much stronger than 10 to 15 km/h. But, at those temperatures, that's enough wind to push wind chills into the -39 to -45 range C," he added.

On Tuesday, the city activated its extreme weather response, which includes a bus service to transport people from transit centres to shelter between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Day shelter capacity was also increased at Boyle Street Community Services and the Bissell Centre.

The extreme weather response is expected to run until Dec. 31. If you’re concerned about someone outside in the extreme cold, the city is reminding you to call 911 in an emergency or 211 for non-emergency support.