How Many People Are Homeless in Canada?

Estimating the number of people experiencing homelessness in Canada is a continual source of debate. However, our ability to estimate this number accurately has improved greatly in recent years. One source of accurate information are nationally coordinated point-in-time (PiT) counts, where communities determine the number of people experiencing homelessness on a given night. The most recent count in 2020-2022 saw 66 communities participate across the country, providing a detailed snapshot of this complex issue. We also have other useful sources, such as the shelter usage data in the National Shelter Study.

How Many People Are Homeless in a Given Year?

In the State of Homelessness in Canada 2016 report, it was estimated that at least 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness in a given year. The actual number is potentially much higher, given that many people who are unhoused live with friends or relatives and do not come into contact with emergency shelters. According to the 2018 National Housing Survey, about 15% of those who completed the survey for their household had experienced hidden homelessness at some point in their lives. In a population of 40 million, this represents about 6 million people whose experience of homelessness is unlikely to have been captured by conventional measurements.

How Many People Are Homeless on a Given Day?

On the night of the 2020-2022 PiT count, over 32,000 people in 59 communities across Canada were identified as experiencing absolute homelessness in shelters, transitional housing, and unsheltered locations. For the communities that also held a PiT count in 2018, this is an increase of about 12%, potentially attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the number of people staying in unsheltered locations doubled during this period.

Let’s look in more detail at the experiences of homelessness included in that figure.

The PiT count includes people who are staying in shelters. This represents 63% of the total, or about 20,100 people. This includes all kinds of shelters, including domestic violence shelters, extreme weather shelters, and hotel rooms provided in lieu of shelter beds.

There were 15,185 emergency shelter beds across Canada in 2021, and according to data from 2019 (the last year before pandemic capacity restrictions were imposed), about 14,400 people accessed them each night. Although the number of shelter users is trending downwards over time, demand for shelters remains high: the average occupancy rate among all shelters in 2020 was 93.7%.

In 2021, there were 9,197 beds in domestic violence shelters across the country serving women and children fleeing violence and abuse. According to one snapshot from 2021, 5,466 people were staying in domestic violence shelters. A 2017 survey found that 44% of all violence against women shelters were full on any given day.

Finally, we have unsheltered homelessness. Of those enumerated in the 2020-2022 PiT count, 25% were living unsheltered, which represents about 8,000 people. This is likely an undercount due to the difficulty of finding those living outside of public systems.

How Long Do Experiences of Homelessness Last?

Hidden homelessness accounts for most of the homelessness in Canada, and most people who experience it manage to exit homelessness in a rather short time, often with little outside support. Similarly, about 70% of shelter stays are for fewer than six months, according to the 2020 National Shelter Survey.

Those whose experience of homelessness lasts longer than six months are considered to be chronically homeless. Although they are a smaller percentage of the overall homeless population, they generally have higher needs, access shelters more frequently, and make heavier use of public systems. This is why, in the 2020-2022 PiT count, 71% of people indicated that they had been homeless for more than six months. This number rose to 84% among those who were unsheltered.

And Remember…

It is important to remember that these statistics are for the population as a whole. Within certain subpopulations, the rates of homelessness are actually much higher. For instance, about 35% of people experiencing homelessness are Indigenous, despite them making up only 5% of the population. See our discussion of Who Is Homeless for more details of the makeup of the homeless population.