Census Data Suggests Homeless Population Shrinking, Says StatCan

A homeless camp is shown beneath an overpass in Montreal on April 14, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

Canada’s homeless population is shrinking compared to previous estimates—at least for those living in shelters, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

In a paper released on June 16, Statistics Canada reported that the census count of people living in shelters in 2021 was less than half the number it was in 2016.

“The census is not an adequate tool to frequently enumerate the homeless population,” said the study, titled “A Review of Canadian Homelessness Data, 2023,” as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

“However, the census enumerates the homeless population in shelters across the country in real time.”

According to the agency, the 2021 Census counted 9,275 shelter residents, mainly in Ontario (4,060) and British Columbia (2,595). The 2016 Census counted more than twice the figure in 2021 with a total of 22,190 shelter occupants recorded nationwide.

Statistics Canada noted that the estimates were based on “one specific day” during the counting exercise.

“The census is an enumeration on one specific day every five years,” said the paper. “[A]s a result [it] will not measure those who were in shelters at other times of that year and does not represent the total number of homeless people.”

‘Best Guess’

The paper said a “best guess” of the homeless population was via data drawn from a 2018 research by Employment and Social Development Canada that estimated about 25,000 people “lived in a situation of homelessness, in a shelter or not” on a single day.

It also cited 2014 research by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness that estimated an average of 235,000 people in the country experiencing “one of the many types of homelessness each year.”

In May, Veteran Affairs Canada, which is responsible for granting funding to homeless ex-military personnel, estimated less than 0.5 percent of veterans are homeless.

“The estimated overall number of shelter users including veterans has declined,” the department wrote in a submission to the Senate national finance committee, obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The department counted 461,235 veterans nationwide. Some 1,905 to 2,400 (about 0.5 percent) were shelter users.

“Some people who experience homelessness do not access shelters,” staff wrote.

Statistics Canada acknowledged the difficulties involved in collecting data on the homeless population.

“[H]omeless people rarely have a fixed address, therefore are difficult to count and are often outside the scope of surveys,” said the agency. “This also makes them difficult to identify in administrative data.”