Five-year-old company of 'bullies' pulled in $40M to patrol city shelters

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Just five years after incorporating, a security firm that worked at the City of Toronto’s COVID-era hotel shelters continues to see its multimillion-dollar contracts grow – even after a report to the Health Ministry included claims its staff were poorly trained “bullies.”

One Community Solutions hires private guards to patrol around city shelters and other hot spots for drug use and mental illness. Their responsibilities, as per job postings, include picking up used needles, responding to overdoses and working outdoors, even in winter.

Grouped into what the city calls “community safety teams,” or CSTs, these guards “have been one important tool in the city’s work in resolving encampment sites” and “have been effective contributors to the city’s homelessness work,” City Hall told the Toronto Sun in an emailed statement.

That includes work at at least eight hotels used as shelters during COVID, some of them notorious for drug use and crime.

In December 2024, when city council OK’d an $8.1-million increase to OCS’s contract, they made no fuss about their work or the cost. Councillor Ausma Malik made the only real remarks about the CST model, saying: “I’ve seen the difference that they’ve made in my communities in Spadina-Fort York.”

That vote, passed 21-1, brought City Hall’s total spend on OCS contracts to almost $40 million since 2020, according to public records and contracts released to the Sun via a freedom-of-information request. The true number is certainly higher, as it doesn’t include third parties that would hire a CST company to work at the shelters they operate on behalf of the city.

OCS has also expanded operations into Simcoe County, where staff collect needles in rough spots such as in downtown Barrie. Andrew Scavarelli, the county’s housing director, told the Sun that OCS has done well at collaborating with partner organizations and pointing people in need to the services on offer.

“They’ve certainly done a great job,” Scavarelli said.

But a review in February 2024 was scathing about their work at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre.

OCS was hired in July 2023 – the same month as the shocking shooting death of a bystander, Karolina Huebner-Makurat, near the Leslieville centre. “It is not clear if One Community Solutions is adhering to the scope of work outlined in their contract with the health centre,” says the review, done by Unity Health Toronto for the provincial Health Ministry.

Concerns were expressed about understaffing and a lack of “formal training” in “crisis management, de-escalation and non-violent conflict resolution.” “Additionally, the One Community Solutions staff observed working during site visits did not appear comfortable in dealing with persons loitering around the health centre,” the report says.

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A companion document reported that drug users at the site complained OCS staff “are ‘bullies’ who blatantly ignore situations in which they are expected to intervene.” (A South Riverdale representative confirmed their contract with OCS has ended.)

Meanwhile, a CTV report from December 2020 said CSTs who worked out of the St. Felix Centre were accusing OCS director Damion Dunston of withholding pandemic pay.

It’s unclear what became of that issue, but Dunston told CTV “the guys have already been spoken to in regards to pandemic pay in regards to how that’s going to work out … For those who don’t want to wait and make something out of nothing, that’s for them to assume. I would never withhold anybody’s payments.”

The numbered Ontario company that operates as One Community Solutions was registered by Dunston and an associate out of what appears to be a Scarborough condo in May 2020. On Aug. 12, 2020, city bureaucrats filled out non-competitive procurement forms for two sole-sourced deals, worth $40,608 and $500,000, with OCS.

Justified as “emergency” procurements because of COVID, the forms each say OCS was picked “based on their expertise in a safe and effective operation of programs” for the poor and mentally ill, and their “ability to meet our requirements and timelines during this pandemic.” (The city stood by that in a recent statement, saying there was an “urgent need” and “few organizations” offered the necessary services at that time.)

A related purchase order and contract simply say “security support” and a “comminity (sic) safety member” were being acquired. As neither exceeded $500,000, it appears bureaucrats didn’t need the city manager to sign off on the procurements.

The forms said since the procurements were tied to COVID, “no long-term needs are required.” However, the services required ballooned from $500,000 to $19 million in July 2022 and a bidding process was held and the city handed out new CST contracts in October 2023, documents show.

OCS won a contract for large locations at the city, while West Egg, a rival outfit that goes back decades in the industry, was chosen to handle smaller operations. (A third company “was ultimately unable to meet city contract requirements,” a statement from City Hall said.)

This second OCS contract now runs until at least Dec. 31 and is worth just above $18.9 million.

OCS staff worked at 10 locations “at different points during the pandemic,” City Hall confirmed, including eight hotels that were used as shelters.

Those include the Novotel, which for neighbours on the Esplanade made life “like living in a graveyard,” according to a 2022 report; a temporary shelter just to the east of the Novotel; the midtown Roehampton hotel, which was associated with a 30% surge in crime; and the Strathcona near Union Station, just steps from the site of a notorious fatal swarming. The city did not specify if OCS was working at the Strathcona at the time of that December 2022 slaying, nor did it provide specifics as to when OCS worked at the Novotel or the Roehampton.

Reached by phone, Dunston referred all questions to his HR chief, Mitchell Cowley. In a brief call in late July, Cowley said OCS is a “small company” that prizes its relationships with its community partners, and asked the Sun for questions in written form ahead of an interview. The Sun supplied a list of questions, but OCS did not respond in time for publication.

A promotional statement by services firm ADP, dated 2024 and featuring Cowley’s name and a photograph, claimed OCS had 150 employees.

Dunston’s LinkedIn profile says he began working in security in 2015, studied hospitality at George Brown College until 2016 and started running OCS in 2017. His profile also lists security-related roles at All Saints Church and the St. Felix Centre. Neither organization responded to the Sun’s requests for comment.

City Hall has confirmed OCS is responsible for CST services at shelters at 545 Lake Shore Blvd W. and 2035 Kennedy Rd., plus Dufferin Grove Park and Alexandra Park, and has a $600,000 contract for two TCHC properties on Lawrence Ave. E. OCS appears to have a contract for a new shelter at 629 Adelaide St., operated by the St. Felix Centre – but City Hall said it can’t confirm CST contracts held by the 39 organizations it partners with on shelter programs.

It’s unclear what metric City Hall uses to gauge the success of its relationship with OCS. A document related to the TCHC contract shows regular reports are required, and the city’s statement said “expected deliverables for CSTs,” including safety procedures and staffing levels, are laid out contractually.

“To the city’s knowledge, the CST teams doing work related to homelessness are currently meeting their contract requirements and there are no outstanding issues,” the city said.

jholmes@postmedia.com