Framework for the Blueprint to End Homelessness in Toronto

Homelessness in Toronto has been growing rapidly, almost six times faster than the overall population. In 1960, there were 900 beds in the city’s shelter system and 1.6 million people living in Toronto. By 2006, Toronto had 4,181 shelter beds in a city of 2.6 million. The face of homelessness is changing as more families and children line-up for shelter. Homelessness is the most visible sign of a larger urban crisis: The lack of affordable housing directly affects hundreds of thousands of low, moderate and middle-income households, and the impact runs throughout the city. If visible homelessness is the tip of the iceberg, then the affordable housing crisis and deep urban poverty are the huge mass below the water.

Publication Date: 
2006
Location: 
Toronto, ON, Canada