Number of homeless people in Toronto more than doubled between 2021 and 2024: report
Toronto's Street Needs Assessment survey estimates that 15,400 people were homeless in Toronto last October, up from about 7,300 in April 2021.
The report says the spike is a result of several issues, including lack of affordable housing, unmet health-care needs, insufficient income support and substance use struggles.
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It says the increase in Toronto mirrors the situation in Ontario and across Canada after the COVID-19 pandemic directly affected homelessness rates.
The report says the housing crisis requires strategic responses and Toronto is already seeing a reduction in the number of homeless people due to fewer refugee claimants in shelters, lower encampment numbers and movement of people into permanent housing.
The city says a total of 1,078 people living outside were referred into the shelter system and more than 4,300 people were housed last year.
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