The latest count of homeless people in Saskatoon shows a significant increase over the last one, done two years ago.
The point-in-time count, conducted by volunteers on Oct. 8, identified 1,499 people experiencing homelessness that day. That’s nearly three times higher than the 2022 count, which identified 550.
“The results of this count represent the minimum number of individuals experiencing unsheltered and sheltered homelessness in Saskatoon,” Lesley Anderson, director of planning and development for the City of Saskatoon, said in a news release.
The count was conducted by the city in partnership with the Saskatoon Housing Initiatives Partnership, the Reaching Home Community Entity in Saskatoon and the Community-University Institute for Social Research at the University of Saskatchewan — plus more than 200 volunteers.
More data from the count will be released in the new year in the Saskatoon PiT Community Report. The last report from 2022, for example, showed that 83 per cent of those counted that year identified as Indigenous and 49 per cent said they experience chronic homelessness.
The homelessness count highlights the immense need for a “solid investment” in housing, said Katelyn Roberts, executive director of Sanctum Care Group in Saskatoon.
“There’s no access to services and supports to recover from trauma, or to even have your basic necessities met, and that’s obviously reflected in our homelessness count here today,” she told CBC Radio Blue Sky host Leisha Grebinski.
“It sounds cheesy, but how we treat our most vulnerable is a reflection of who we are as a society and I think Saskatchewan is failing deeply.”
In Saskatoon, the fire department has kept track of more than 1,200 homeless encampments so far this year. That’s about 200 more than last year. As of last week, there were 25 encampments on the record in Saskatoon, and 12 in Regina.