Forming an accurate count of Canada’s homeless population is an insurmountable task, researchers say. But that hasn’t stopped them from trying.
In Statistics Canada’s 2023 review of Canadian homelessness data, the latest estimate they provide is from 2014. That estimate says 235,000 people experience “the many different types of homelessness” every year, according to the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, a research organization.
“We probably will never have a full understanding [of the homelessness figure], as our approaches usually lag behind real time, and the phenomenon is very fluid,” said Richard Booth, an associate processor at the University of Western Ontario.
In 2019, Booth and his colleagues conducted a study looking at the homeless population in Ontario using a new method. Instead of pulling data from Ontario’s shelter system, they analyzed healthcare records. The researchers now believe the true national count is well above 235,000 people.
“Many people who are homeless are not accessing shelters. And only around 68 communities, which are mostly large urban centres, contribute information to this number. With all these factors at play, I guesstimate it could easily be tripled,” said Cheryl Forchuk, a distinguished university professor at Western University and one of the study’s researchers.
And without a good estimate of the problem, government and society can’t adequately address it, Forchuk says.
