How many homeless people live in Toronto: Are there 500? 5,000? Or perhaps even 50,000? On April 15, 2009, hundreds of homeless outreach workers and volunteers are set to visit about half of Toronto neighbourhoods for Toronto‟s second count of homeless people and street needs assessment. The results are expected in late June or early July. Counting the homeless is critically important – it allows the city to set targets for funding and programs, and to evaluate the success of homeless initiatives. Toronto‟s street count is modelled on similar counts that are done in literally dozens of cities across the United States and several Canadian communities.

The problem is: the street count won‟t generate a reliable number. Virtually every expert, including city officials, acknowledge that street counts – based on “point in time” methodology and visual identification – significantly undercount the real number of people who are homeless.