Volunteers canvas city to estimate Edmonton’s homeless population

In an ongoing effort to prevent and end homelessness, Homeward Trust held its 26th annual Point-in-Time count Wednesday.

Hundreds of volunteers canvassed the city on Wednesday to estimate how many people in Edmonton are experiencing homelessness.

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The Point-in-Time (PiT) count includes a street count of people experiencing homelessness across the city and collection of occupancy data from shelters, transitional housing, services and systems like health and justice.

An observed count will also be done by experienced agency-led teams in parkland and ravine areas.

“It really helps us get an understanding of the landscape,” said Suzanne Cunningham, the director of housing for Red Road Healing Society. “Those numbers really help us inform policy and advocacy.”

Volunteers were joined by staff with Homeward Trust, Red Road Healing Society and other organizations in the homeless-serving sector for the count, which started on Tuesday.

The organizations are also gathering information through a voluntary survey about experiences such as housing loss, owning pets or having been in foster care.

Naloxone kits, flashlights, sanitizer, bus tickets, gift cards and cigarettes were being handed out to respondents.

Information gathered in the PiT count is used to strengthen collective efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

Last year, 3,902 people were enumerated in the PiT count.

Since the city started conducting counts in 1999, Cunningham said numbers have been consistently trending upwards.

“It is a prominent concern … What’s going on right now is not necessarily always going to be reflective of where it’s going to go in the future,” she said. “Our hope is that being active and understanding these numbers will inform innovation and strategies in the future.”