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 9,121
Shelter Programs, Family Sector, Total 2,588
Singles Sector Programs, Total 6,522
   Shelter Programs, Singles, Total 4,041
   Allied Services, Total 325
   COVID-19 Programs, Total 2,156
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs 11
Shelter Programs, Room Based Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
Family Sector, Total 2,588 805 3 808 99.6%
   Families, Emergency Shelter Programs 867 279 1 280 99.6%
   Families, Transitional Shelter Programs 78 26 0 26 100.0%
   Families, Motel/Hotel Programs 1,643 500 2 502 99.6%
Mixed Adult Motel/Hotel, Total 324 183 0 183 100.0%
Shelter Programs, Bed Based Individuals Occupied Beds Unoccupied Beds Actual Bed Capacity Occupancy Rate
Singles Sectors, Total 3,717 3,717 50 3,767 98.7%
   Emergency Shelter Programs, Total 3,054 3,054 16 3,070 99.5%
      Mixed Adult, Emergency 586 586 1 587 99.8%
      Men, Emergency 1,427 1,427 0 1,427 100.0%
      Women, Emergency 666 666 0 666 100.0%
      Youth, Emergency 375 375 15 390 96.2%
   Transitional Shelter Programs, Total 663 663 34 697 95.1%
      Mixed Adult, Transitional 135 135 4 139 97.1%
      Men, Transitional 215 215 19 234 91.9%
      Women, Transitional 111 111 1 112 99.1%
      Youth, Transitional 202 202 10 212 95.3%
Allied Services Individuals Occupied Spaces Unoccupied Spaces Actual Space Capacity Occupancy Rate
Allied Services, Total 325 325 5 330 98.5%
   24-Hour Respites 262 262 5 267 98.1%
   24-Hour Women’s Drop-ins 63 63 0 63 100.0%
COVID-19 Programs, Bed/space-based Individuals Occupied Beds/Spaces Unoccupied Beds/Spaces Actual Bed/Space Capacity Occupancy Rate
24-Hour Temporary Response Sites 102 102 0 102 100.0%
COVID-19 Programs, Room/unit based Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
Hotels 2,054 1,855 8 1,863 99.6%
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs Individuals Occupied Rooms Unoccupied Rooms Actual Room Capacity Occupancy Rate
COVID-19 Isolation/Recovery Programs Combined Total 11 11 0 11 100.0%

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.