Arctic air sweeping into the region has plunged the Greater Toronto Area into a deep freeze, dropping temperatures with the wind chill factor to -30 C.

The cold weather is expected to stay till the weekend, warming up to -5C without the windchill.

Cold weather alerts have been issued to the city and several other communities, prompting them to activate additional support services to assist the homeless. While, the City focuses on providing homeless people with permanent housing, a severe winter weather forecast, makes their immediate safety top priority.

Emergency shelters, drop-in centres, Streets to Homes assistance for the homeless are funded by the City, year round. However, there are more services available in winter, with street outreach workers urging the homeless to go to shelters, and even providing transportation during Extreme Cold Weather Alerts, making TTC tokens available at drop in centres, so the homeless have transportation to the shelters.

Environment Canada has advised 'extreme caution' when going outdoors, as exposed skin will freeze, within just a couple of minutes. Extreme weather conditions, such as, a blizzard, ice storm or sudden temperature drops have been predicted.