Toronto’s fourth homeless count and survey was conducted on the night of April 26, 2018. The Street Needs Assessment (SNA) is a needs assessment survey and point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. The results provide a snapshot of the scope and profile of the City’s homeless population. Additionally, the results give people experiencing homelessness a voice in what services they need in order to find and keep housing.
This year, Toronto’s homeless count was part of the federal government’s national coordinated point-in-time count and was funded in part by the Government of Canada. Results will be included in the 2018 national snapshot of homelessness. In addition the provincial government has recently made local homeless enumeration on a bi-annual basis a legislated requirement for Ontario municipalities. Results will be provided to the Province to better understand the scale and nature of homelessness across Ontario.
The 2018 SNA was possible thanks to the participation of people experiencing homelessness who contributed their time and valuable input in completing the survey.The SNA was also made possible by the participation of 378 trained volunteers and 166 team leads, with support from community partners and City of Toronto staff. New this year was the introduction of Indigenous team leads and Indigenous Cultural Safety training for all participants, led by the Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC). Representatives from TASSC and Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness (TAEH) participated on the SNA steering committee overseeing the project.
During the course of the night, a 23 core question survey was completed with more than 2,000 individuals experiencing homelessness staying in shelters (including Violence Against Women (VAW) shelters which are administered by the Province), 24-hour respite sites, and outdoors. Occupancy data were collected from these sites as well as from health and treatment and corrections facilities for individuals identified as experiencing homelessness. The SNA includes individuals experiencing absolute homelessness (indoors and outdoors) but does not capture hidden homelessness (i.e., people couch surfing or staying temporarily with others who do not have the means to secure permanent housing).