Last week, the City of Saskatoon released the results of a Point in Time homelessness count from October.
The results were shocking, showing a drastic rise in numbers from two years prior.
In 2022, a similar count found just under 600 people experiencing homelessness in the city. This year’s count showed 1,499 people in the same situation.
The city wasn’t the only entity to perform a homelessness count in October, as the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan lead a charge for a count in more rural areas.
The MN-S would task organizations from many different communities to conduct individual counts.
MBC Radio News was provided with results of these counts.
The following list is the total enumeration numbers for the Point in Time count conducted in 12 different communities:
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- North Battleford – 98
- Moose Jaw – 340
- Nipawin – 98
- Melfort – 42
- La Ronge – 100
- Ile a la Crosse – 49
- Beauval – 29
- Meadow Lake – 40
- Pinehouse – 162
- Buffalo Narrows, SK – 30
- La Loche, SK – 37
- Yorkton, SK – 21
Counts in rural areas are not very common, so there is little data to compare to previous years to confirm if there is a rise in numbers in these areas in the previous two years as was seen in Saskatoon.
The PiT Count report, provided to MBC Radio News, also makes note that homelessness may present differently in rural communities, especially the north. The report says many northerners experiencing homelessness may actually stay at times with friends or relatives and not be actually on the streets. However, the report states that “couch surfing” is not considered a stable form of housing.
The report also found that the majority of people counted in these lists identified as Indigenous.
In the report’s conclusion, its key findings is that “homelessness is real and on the rise in these communities” and investments are needed here not just in the cities.