Everyone Counts 2024 - Highlights Report Part 1 – Enumeration of Homelessness

Everyone Counts 2024 - Highlights Report Part 1 – Enumeration of Homelessness (PDF Version)

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  Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Tout le monde compte 2024 : Rapport sur les faits saillants Partie 1 — L'énumération de l'itinérance

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  © His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, 2024.

  Cat. No. T94-54/2025-1E-PDF
  ISBN 978-0-660-76243-2

On this page

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Results
• Conclusion
• Annex A – Communities participating in the 2024 PiT Count enumeration

Introduction

In October and November 2024, communities in nearly every province and territory participated in Everyone Counts, the fourth nationally coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) Count of homelessness. The results from these counts provide a snapshot of homelessness in communities across Canada. The PiT Counts included two components:

• The PiT Count enumeration: an estimate of the number of people experiencing homelessness within a determined geographical area on a single night. It also identifies the location where they spent the night: in shelters, transitional housing, or unsheltered locations.
• The Survey on Homelessness: a set of standardized survey questions that are administered directly to individuals experiencing homelessness. Respondents include those in unsheltered locations (including encampments), emergency shelters (including domestic violence shelters), transitional housing, health and correctional systems, and hidden homeless (e.g., people who are “couch surfing”).

The first three nationally coordinated Point-in-Time Counts were held in 2016, 2018, and 2020-2022. Key findings from the these counts can be found at the following linked reports:

• Highlights – 2016 Coordinated Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities
• Everyone Counts 2018
• Everyone Counts 2020-2022

This report presents findings from the enumeration conducted in 72 participating communities, as well as results from spring 2025 PiT Counts in Vancouver and Victoria, for a total of 74 communities. A companion report (Part 2) will present findings from the survey that was administered in conjunction with the enumeration.

Acknowledgements

This report was prepared by Michelle Roberts, Sajidul Quayum, Emilie Gravel, and Rachel Campbell from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) and reflects the work by the PiT Count Implementation team at HICC.  

This report and the understanding of homelessness that we gain from PiT Counts in Canada would not be possible without the National PiT Count Working Group and the diligent work of community organizations and their front-line workers and volunteers. Most importantly, it would not be possible without the willing participation of people experiencing homelessness all across the country, for which we are very grateful.

Methodology

The Point-in-Time Counts, held in fall 2024, provide a unique view of homelessness that reaches beyond those who are accessing homelessness services. PiT Counts provide an enumeration of homelessness in “core” locations, including:

• Encampments, which are outdoor locations with a group of tents, makeshift shelters or other long-term outdoor settlement, where two or more individuals are staying.^{Footnote 1}
• Other unsheltered locations such as streets, alleys, parks, transit stations, abandoned buildings, vehicles, ravines, and other outdoor locations.
• Sheltered locations such as emergency shelters, extreme weather shelters, domestic violence shelters, and where applicable, may also include hotel or motel rooms provided to families or individuals experiencing homelessness in lieu of shelter beds.
• Transitional housing such as programs that provide longer-term housing solutions with supports intended to help individuals transition from homelessness to secure housing.

The Survey on Homelessness was administered to people experiencing homelessness throughout each community as part of the fall 2024 PiT Counts. More information on methodology, including the survey questions, can be found in the Guide to PiT Counts and on the Core Standards page. Definitions of terms can be found in the Homelessness Glossary for Communities, on the Homelessness Learning Hub.

Updates to the survey questions and methodology for 2024

Thorough reviews of the PiT Count methodology and core survey questions are undertaken after the completion of each PiT Count cycle. These reviews take into consideration feedback and learnings from communities, teams internal to HICC, and other experts. 

When developing updates, attention to methodological rigour, comparability to previous PiT Counts, flexibility to meet local needs, and onus on community service providers and clients are all taken into consideration. Three updates were made to the methodology:

• Move to fall timing – The first nationally coordinated PiT Counts in 2016 took place between January and April. The second coordinated counts, in 2018, took place in March and April. The 2020-2022 counts took place during various months, depending on community capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. To approach alignment across the country, Everyone Counts has been moved to October and November.
• Extending the survey period – Building on flexibility that was provided during the pandemic counts, communities were given the option to extend their survey period from the traditional twenty-four hour period to up to a month.
• Relying largely on homeless sector staff – Continuing a trend that began during the pandemic counts, communities were presented with the option to rely on sector staff rather than volunteers from the general public to carry out the enumeration and administer the survey. Many communities opted to make this change and reported higher levels of participation from clients due to surveyors' existing relationships with them.

For more information on the these changes, see Everyone Counts 2024 – Frequently Asked Questions  well as PiT Count 2024 Survey Updates on the Homelessness Learning Hub.

Data and limitations

This report is based on the enumeration data provided by 74 communities that participated in Everyone Counts 2024 (see Annex A), including 60 communities that were Designated Communities funded by Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy.  

Due to the methodology of a PiT Count, it only captures a one-night snapshot of homelessness. The enumeration will be lower than the number of people who experience homelessness over the course of a week, a month, or a year. For more information, see PiT Count Data: Interpretation and Reporting.

Results

During the night of the PiT Count enumeration, nearly 60,000 people in 74 communities across Canada were identified as experiencing homelessness. Although communities in Quebec did not participate in 2024, a previous count was conducted in 2022. If homelessness remained stable, including the results from these 13 counts would indicate that more than 67,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 87 communities in 2024.

Among nearly 60,000 people enumerated for the 2024 PiT Count, the enumeration included 35,864 people experiencing homelessness in shelters, 17,088 in unsheltered locations (of whom, 4,982 were in encampments), and 6,872 who were provisionally accommodated in transitional housing programs, shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Homelessness on a single night in Canada in 2024

Based on population estimates from the 2021 Census, the rate of homelessness in these communities is approximately 26 people per 10,000. The rate of homelessness was highest among communities in the Central Region, where there were 27 per 10,000 people. Communities in the Western and Northern Region saw rates of homelessness of 26 per 10,000 people, and communities in the Atlantic Region saw rates of homelessness of 22 per 10,000 people.^{Footnote 2}

For communities in each region, per 10,000 population

Out of the 74 communities, 56 also conducted PiT Counts in 2018 and 2020-22. For these communities, there was a 79% increase in the enumeration since the last count, shown in Figure 2. Compared to 2020-22, those enumerated in an unsheltered location doubled (a 107% increase), while those in sheltered locations increased by 71%, and the number of people in transitional housing increased by 62%.

Figure 2. Changes in overnight location since the last PiT Count

Compared to 2018, the enumeration of people in an unsheltered location quadrupled (a 303% increase), representing the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. Compared to 2018, the enumeration of people in sheltered locations increased by 77%, and the enumeration of people in transitional housing increased by 26%.

The enumeration of people experiencing homelessness from the past three PiT Counts is shown, broken down by overnight location, in Figure 3. This graph illustrates the accelerating growth in homelessness over the 2018-2024 period, as well as the growth of unsheltered homelessness as a proportion of the total population experiencing homelessness.

Figure 3. Changes in the one-night enumeration across 56 communities from 2018 to 2024

Table 1 summarizes changes in enumeration data from the communities with results across the three PiT Counts. These results show that shelter use and transitional housing expanded during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which had caused a contraction of the homeless-serving sector capacity. However, rises in homelessness continue to outpace the adaptation within the sector, shown by the accelerating growth in unsheltered homelessness and the proliferation of encampments.

Table 1. Year-over-year changes in enumeration across 56 communities

PiT Count year comparison	Change in unsheltered	Change in sheltered	Change in transitional	Change in total enumeration
From 2018 to 2020-22	+95%	+3%	-22%	+11%
From 2020-22 to 2024	+107%	+71%	+62%	+79%

Conclusion

The enumeration results from Everyone Counts 2024 show that nearly 60,000 people are experiencing homelessness on a given night in Canada. Over the past six years, the total population experiencing homelessness on a single night has almost doubled. The share of this population experiencing homelessness in unsheltered locations, including encampments, has grown from 14% in 2018 to 28% in 2024. While homelessness in sheltered and transitional locations have also grown over the 2018-2024 period, the proportion of the homeless population accessing these locations is decreasing. These findings highlight an urgent need to address the root causes of the housing crisis, as homelessness continues to grow in spite of expanded shelter capacity and adaptation within the sector.

Further reporting, including results from the PiT 2024 survey responses, is expected over the coming months. This will include an analysis of sociodemographic variables such as age, gender identity, Indigenous identity, experiences of youth in care, experiences of homelessness among newcomers to Canada, Veteran status, age of first homelessness, health conditions, sources of income, reasons for housing loss, and chronic homelessness. It will also include some insights into experiences of hidden homelessness and systems homelessness.

If you have questions about this report, contact hpd.data-donnees.dpmi@infc.gc.ca.

Annex A – Communities participating in the 2024 PiT Count enumeration

The following 74 communities contributed to the enumeration data upon which this report is based:

• Abbotsford, BC
• Chilliwack, BC
• Cowichan Valley, BC
• Kamloops, BC
• Kelowna, BC
• Nanaimo, BC
• Nelson, BC
• Prince George, BC
• Metro Vancouver, BC (Conducted in March 2025)
• Victoria, BC (Conducted in March 2025)
• Calgary, AB
• Edmonton, AB
• Grande Prairie, AB
• Lethbridge, AB
• Lloydminster, AB
• Medicine Hat, AB
• Red Deer, AB
• Wood Buffalo, AB
• Beauval, SK
• Buffalo Narrows, SK
• Île-à-la-Crosse, SK
• La Loche, SK
• Lac La Ronge Tri-Community, SK
• Meadow Lake, SK
• Melfort, SK
• Moose Jaw, SK
• Nipawin, SK
• North Battleford, SK
• Pinehouse, SK
• Yorkton, SK
• Prince Albert, SK
• Regina, SK
• Saskatoon, SK
• Brandon, MB
• Thompson, MB
• Winnipeg, MB
• Barrie (Simcoe), ON
• Belleville (Hastings), ON
• Brantford, ON
• Cochrane District (Timmins), ON
• Dufferin County, ON
• Durham (Oshawa), ON
• Guelph / Wellington County, ON
• Halton, ON
• Hamilton, ON
• Kenora District, ON
• Kingston, ON
• Lambton County, ON
• London, ON
• Muskoka, ON
• Nipissing / North Bay, ON
• Ottawa, ON
• Peel Region, ON
• Peterborough, ON
• Sault Ste. Marie, ON
• St. Catharines / Niagara, ON
• Sudbury, ON
• Thunder Bay, ON
• Toronto, ON
• Waterloo / Kitchener, ON
• Windsor, ON
• York Region, ON
• Bathurst, NB
• Fredericton, NB
• Moncton, NB
• Saint John, NB
• Halifax, NS
• Sydney / Cape Breton, NS
• Charlottetown, PEI
• Summerside, PEI
• St. John's, NL
• Iqaluit, NU
• Yellowknife, NWT
• Whitehorse, YT