A newly released survey shows the number of homeless people in Toronto has more than doubled between the spring of 2021 and last fall.

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.

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.

Trending Now

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.