Here’s how many Londoners are homeless and why frontline agencies suggest crisis undercounted

Numbers suggest the city’s homelessness crisis has plateaued, but local agencies have a different outlook. CTV’s Daryl Newcombe has the story.

New data from City Hall suggests the local homelessness crisis essentially plateaued year-over-year in June, but some frontline agencies suggest the quarterly Snapshot of Homelessness doesn’t tell the full story.

Among the data recently posted to the City of London website, there were 1,987 individuals experiencing some level of homelessness on June 30, compared to 1,776 one year prior.

There were 75 encampments meeting all of the current community health and safety guidelines - one more than in June, 2024.

The number of people living in encampments dipped slightly to 222 this June, compared to 244 in June, 2024.

Sarah Campbell, Executive Director of Ark Aid Street Mission suggests those numbers don’t reflect the extent of the homelessness crisis this summer.

She believes the crackdown by London Police on open drug use, and the growing presence of private security and by-law enforcement officers has driven people living unhoused to less visible and decentralized locations.

“We have these initiatives to push people out of the core for the summertime,” Campbell tells CTV News. “So where are they? I think Londoners know they’re in parks and neighborhoods all over the city.”

The quarterly Snapshot of Homelessness is based on the city’s By-Name List which collects data from individuals who interact with homelessness and housing services.

However, because people may be finding it harder to access services, or they refuse to provide personal information, city hall acknowledges the data to be an undercount.

“The numbers that we see are the number of people who have connected to the system,” adds Campbell. “People aren’t able to find those open doors as easily. At Ark Aid Street Mission we’re familiar with this (because) we’re the only open door service on weekends or holidays.”

In a statement to CTV News, London Cares wrote, “Individuals looking to access our day space (are) increasing.”

A man who goes by the name Hawkeye says he’s been homeless for three years in London.

Hawkeye believes the recent addition of private security guards and daily visits from by-law enforcement in a municipal parking lot in the Old East Village pushes him further from the agencies where he receives basic needs.

“They first come up and say, hurry up and pack up. You got half-an-hour,” he says. “If you don’t, your belongings go in the trailer and then you have nothing.”

No one from Civic Administration was available for an interview on Friday about the latest homelessness data and how access to services may be impacted by recent enforcement actions.

“I think the question always is, what’s the access to support and care?” Campbell explains. “Access means that people know where to go, where to find those services, and where to connect.”