Between March 1 and April 30, 2018, 61 communities participated in Everyone Counts, the second nationally coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) count of homelessness in Canadian Communities. The first count took place in 2016 with 32 participating communities. Everyone Counts 2020 will be the third nationally-coordinated PiT count and is planned for March and April 2020.

The findings highlighted in this report are the result of the enumeration and surveys conducted in the 61 communities in 2018. The results represent a picture of homelessness from a range of communities across Canada, including data from communities in every province and territory, covering major urban centres, suburban communities of various sizes, and more rural and remote communities.

Further results from Everyone Counts 2018 will follow in future reporting, including reasons people cite for their housing loss, sources of income, and deeper analyses on specific populations.

Point-in-Time counts provide a unique community-wide view of homelessness that reaches beyond those who are accessing other homelessness services. The survey provides data that can point to services, policies, or programs that can help to prevent and reduce homelessness. This is information that is not captured through administrative data systems.

The counts are particularly helpful to account for people who do not access shelters. Some populations, including Indigenous Peoples, youth and women, are less likely to access shelters and will therefore be underrepresented in administrative data. The PiT Counts offer a means to address this.