Daily Shelter & Overnight Service Usage

This page reports data on the daily occupancy and capacity of Toronto’s shelter system. It is a daily snapshot of the occupancy and capacity of the system, updated every day except weekends and holidays; data for weekends and holidays are posted on the next business day.

Service location and program-level details are available for 2021 in the Daily Shelter & Overnight Service Occupancy & Capacity data set on the City’s Open Data portal. Historic data from 2017 to 2020 for pre-COVID base shelter system programs remain available on the portal in the Daily Shelter Occupancy data set.

Additional information about people experiencing homelessness who are entering and leaving the shelter system each month is available on the Shelter System Flow Dashboard.

To request access to available emergency shelter space, call Central Intake at 416-338-4766 or 1-877-338-3398.

Occupancy Summary Individuals
All Programs, Total 8,852
Shelter Programs, Family Sector, Total 2,516
Singles Sector Programs, Total 6,333
   Shelter Programs, Singles, Total 3,554
   Allied Services, Total 317
   COVID-19 Programs, Total 2,462
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs 4
Shelter Programs, Room Based Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
Family Sector, Total 2,516 782 3 785 99.6%
   Families, Emergency Shelter Programs 848 276 0 276 100.0%
   Families, Transitional Shelter Programs 72 24 1 25 96.0%
   Families, Motel/Hotel Programs 1,596 482 2 484 99.6%
Mixed Adult Motel/Hotel, Total 262 166 0 166 100.0%
Shelter Programs, Bed Based Individuals Occupied Beds Unoccupied Beds Actual Bed Capacity Occupancy Rate
Singles Sectors, Total 3,292 3,292 31 3,323 99.1%
   Emergency Shelter Programs, Total 2,646 2,646 17 2,663 99.4%
      Mixed Adult, Emergency 612 612 9 621 98.6%
      Men, Emergency 1,213 1,213 1 1,214 99.9%
      Women, Emergency 543 543 0 543 100.0%
      Youth, Emergency 278 278 7 285 97.5%
   Transitional Shelter Programs, Total 646 646 14 660 97.9%
      Mixed Adult, Transitional 136 136 2 138 98.6%
      Men, Transitional 224 224 9 233 96.1%
      Women, Transitional 104 104 1 105 99.0%
      Youth, Transitional 182 182 2 184 98.9%
Allied Services Individuals Occupied Spaces Unoccupied Spaces Actual Space Capacity Occupancy Rate
Allied Services, Total 317 317 6 323 98.1%
   24-Hour Respites 267 267 4 271 98.5%
   24-Hour Women’s Drop-ins 50 50 2 52 96.2%
COVID-19 Programs, Bed/space-based Individuals Occupied Beds/Spaces Unoccupied Beds/Spaces Actual Bed/Space Capacity Occupancy Rate
24-Hour Temporary Response Sites 103 103 0 103 100.0%
COVID-19 Programs, Room/unit based Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
Hotels 2,359 2,078 29 2,107 98.6%
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs Combined Total 4 3 0 3 100.0%

About the Data

  • Daily reporting includes occupancy, vacancy, and capacity data for the shelter and overnight services system. It is based on a snapshot of the system at 4 a.m.
  • Individuals includes a count of all people served in a service area, sector, or program.
  • Reporting of occupancy and capacity is based on the capacity type of programs being reported. Capacity type refers to whether the capacity for a program is measured in rooms or beds.
    • Bed Based Capacity: A program where occupancy is measured at the bed level. Typically applicable for programs with common sleeping areas.
    • Room Based Capacity: A program where occupancy is measured at the room level. Typically applicable to family programs or hotel-based programs where sleeping rooms are not shared between households.
  • Occupancy is reported according to the capacity type of a program, and refers to the number of rooms or beds showing as occupied.
  • Unoccupied rooms or beds is also reported according to capacity type, and refers to the number of rooms or beds that were showing as available for occupancy that were not occupied.
  • Actual capacity provides the total count of available beds or rooms available in the system. It is equal to the occupied capacity plus the unoccupied capacity of a program.
  • The number of total individuals served is greater than the occupancy or capacity in room-based programs, as more than one individual may stay in room based programs where there are couples or family households.
  • Occupancy rate is calculated as occupancy divided by actual capacity. For room-based programs, the occupancy rate is calculated as the number of occupied rooms as a percentage of actual room capacity. For bed-based programs, the occupancy rate is calculated as the number of occupied beds or spaces divided by the actual bed capacity.
  • We will continue to update and improve these data and reporting processes on an ongoing basis, and based on further feedback, in the spirit of continuous improvement.
  • Further definitions about housing & homelessness services can be found in the Housing & Homelessness Services Glossary, which you can find on the Housing Stability Service System Overview web page.