In Waterloo Region, the emergency shelter system served 3,492 unique individuals in 2013. This number is on par with the number of individuals served in 2012 (3,447 unique individuals). Rates of shelter use continue to be high; the number of people accessing emergency shelter in 2013 represents a 25 percent increase in shelter use since the beginning of the recession in 2008. Further, people accessing shelter continue to stay longer and accessing shelter more often with an increase of 47 per cent in bed nights since 2008 (63,277 bed nights in 2008 to 93,274 bed nights in 2013). This is possibly due to continued barriers in securing housing for people living with low income given the increasing cost of rental units and low rates of social assistance and a minimum wage rate that falls below the minimum housing wage for all rental unit types (bachelor, one bedroom, etc.).