Solving Homelessness Together London's 2015-2016 Enumeration Results

1.1 THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT

Solving Homelessness Together: London’s 2015-2016 Enumeration Results provides a point-in-time snapshot of homelessness in London.

This report includes a count of individuals experiencing absolute homelessness at specific points in time in London, Ontario. The data in this report was collected during Registry Week, held in October 2015, and the Point-in-Time Count, which occurred six months later, in April 2016.

Registry Week and the Point-in-Time Count are referred to as “enumeration events” throughout this document. Enumeration events are relatively new in Canada and many communities are examining and piloting various strategies. London’s enumeration events had a similar intent of testing strategies to learn how to best enumerate homelessness in our community.

Baseline data assists in efforts to address homelessness in London. While an enumeration event has limitations, it provides a starting point for measurement in London. Over time, results can be used to track progress in solving homelessness.

1.2 SOLVING HOMELESSNESS ACROSS CANADA

The Homelessness Partnering Strategy, through the Government of Canada, is a community-based program aimed at preventing and reducing homelessness by providing funding to communities across Canada.

1.3 SOLVING HOMELESSNESS IN ONTARIO

Solving homelessness is an important issue. Understanding homelessness in Ontario is limited due to the lack of comparable data across communities. In 2016, the Government of Ontario released Ontario’s Long-Term Affordable Housing Strategy Update, which included next steps in ending homelessness in Ontario. Legislative amendments requiring Service Managers to conduct local enumeration of the homeless population was identified as a key step in understanding homelessness in Ontario and tracking trends over time.

Publication Date: 
2016