Street Needs Assessment

The Street Needs Assessment (SNA) is a city-wide point-in-time count and survey of people experiencing homelessness that is used to inform evidence-based service planning and programming across the homelessness sector.

The City conducted its sixth Streets Needs Assessment in October 2024, working collaboratively with community partners in the homelessness and allied sectors. The Street Needs Assessment count will be completed every year, and the full needs assessment will be carried out every three years.

The data from the 2024 SNA, as well as input gathered through extensive engagement with frontline staff, sector partners and people with lived experience of homelessness, will inform the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan for homelessness services.

    Homelessness is the result of failures across multiple systems, such as housing, health care, mental health, income support, and the justice system. The shelter system is the last resort when people have nowhere else to turn.

    • There has been an overall increase in the number of people experiencing homeless in Toronto since the last Street Needs Assessment, mirroring increases seen across Ontario and Canada.
      • Shelter system pressures were high in October 2024, compounded by a delay in the City’s allocation of Canada-Ontario Housing Benefits (COHB) between April and October 2024.
      • The point-in-time count estimated more than 15,000 were experiencing homelessness in October 2024, with 1,615 of those living outdoors. This compares to a total of 7,300 people experiencing homelessness in 2021.
    • The results show the most frequently identified reason for housing loss by respondents was lack of income, left community/relocated, conflict with spouse and/or partner, mental health issues and unfit/unsafe housing conditions.

    Homelessness in Toronto has increased as result of affordable housing and unmet health needs. These unmet needs significantly impact the lives of vulnerable people experiencing homelessness.

      • While progress has been made since the 2024 SNA, the City continues to provide emergency accommodation to approximately 9,000-10,000 people and each night the shelter system is at capacity with demand exceeding availability.
      • The results of the SNA show:
        • Rent-Geared-to-Income (subsidized) housing was the most frequently cited support that respondents said could have prevented and ended their homelessness.
        • Mental health issues was the most frequently reported health challenge (44 per cent), while illness or medical condition (26 per cent) and substance abuse (25 per cent) were also commonly reported by respondents.
        • Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents reported having one or more health challenges, with multiple health challenges being more prevalent among the chronically homeless.
        • To support health and well-being, 75 per cent of respondents reported needing help accessing general health care or a family doctor. A further 59 per cent need support with food security, diet or nutrition and more than half need mental health supports.

      Specific groups continue to be overrepresented among those experiencing homelessness, requiring targeted investments and specialized supports.

      • There continues to be an overrepresentation of Indigenous people experiencing homelessness, especially outdoors. Indigenous people represent three per cent of the Toronto population – yet account for nine per cent of people experiencing homelessness.
      • Racialized people and Black people continue to be overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness. For example, 10 per cent of Toronto’s population identifies as Black, compared to 59 per cent of survey respondents.
      • The share of respondents who identify as 2SLGBTQ+ has nearly doubled since the last survey, with more than a fifth identifying as 2SLGBTQ+.

      A coordinated multi-sectoral and intergovernmental approach across different service systems continues to be needed to address homelessness.

      • The City will use these findings to inform its five-year strategic plan and other initiatives underway.
      • Exiting homelessness has become increasingly difficult without financial supports like a housing allowance or subsidy. Without predictable funding under the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, flow in and out of the City’s shelter system slows significantly, limiting new admissions to indoor spaces.

      The City and other municipalities are required to conduct the Street Needs Assessment as a condition of federal Reaching Home funding.

      The main objectives of the SNA are to:

      • determine the scope and profile of people experiencing homelessness
      • give people a voice in identifying what supports and services will help them most
      • provide critically important data to help improve services and programs for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto

      Implementation of the 2024 Street Needs Assessment was made possible through the support and participation of City staff and partners from across the homelessness service system and other allied sectors.

      The 2024 SNA included people who were staying:

      • outdoors, including in encampments
      • in City-administered shelters, bridging programs, 24-hour respite sites and 24-hour drop-ins
      • in provincially-administered Violence Against Women shelters, health and treatment facilities and correctional facilities

      Methodology

      The methodology followed national point-in-time standards for participation developed by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada, and did not include people experiencing hidden homelessness, such as people temporarily staying with friends or family.

      Previous SNA results have helped to improve program and service delivery, such as 20 per cent allocation of funding for Indigenous-led shelter development, development of two 2SLGBTQ+ shelters and increased resources for shelter programming for seniors.