HIFIS, created by the Government of Canada, is a system that helps manage and track homelessness. It helps organizations share and use real-time data about homelessness in their communities. This way, they can better support people who need help finding the right services at the right time.
Over the time of Canada’s National Housing Strategy, from 2018 to 2027, spending on homelessness programs at Infrastructure Canada is about $561 million each year. This is much more than the $443 million spent yearly before. Most of this money goes to “Reaching Home,” a program that helps communities reduce and prevent homelessness. It provides housing support and services to many people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
From 2019 to 2022, this funding helped 17,849 people find stable housing, 5,399 people get emergency housing, and 31,164 people receive prevention services each year.
However, the number of homeless people has increased despite this help. According to the latest count, homelessness has gone up by 20% since 2018, reaching 34,270 people. The number of people chronically homeless has gone up by 38%, and those living without shelter has increased by 88%.
With Reaching Home’s help, the number of homeless people is down by about 6,000 (15%). To cut chronic homelessness in half, an extra $3.5 billion per year would be needed.
National Homelessness Data
To understand homelessness better, Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities Canada uses HIFIS data and data from other systems. Personal data is kept safe and anonymous before being sent to them. This data helps create important reports about homelessness across Canada.
Organizations using HIFIS must sign agreements about how to use the software and handle data. These agreements make sure that personal information is protected and used correctly.
First Time Experiencing Homelessness
About 48.2% of people first experienced homelessness as adults, 8.3% as children (0-12), and 42.6% as youth (13-24). Research shows that those who experience homelessness as children or youth are more likely to experience it again later in life.
Causes of Losing Housing
There are three main reasons why people lose their housing:
Housing and Financial Issues: Lack of money was the top reason (31.4%). Other reasons include landlord problems (14.2%), unsafe housing (10%), discrimination (4.7%), or complaints (4.7%). About 5.7% moved away.
Interpersonal and Family Issues: Conflicts with a partner (13.2%), friend/roommate (12.3%), or parent/guardian (5.7%) were common reasons.
Health or Corrections: Issues like substance use (19.8%), mental health problems (12.3%), incarceration (10.4%), and physical health issues (8.5%) were also key reasons, showing the need for better health support.
COVID-19 and Housing Loss
About 14.3% of people said COVID-19 made them lose their housing, though the actual impact might be even bigger.
When Housing Loss Happened
Almost half of the people (47.9%) lost their housing in the last 6 months. This suggests that current issues, like the rising cost of living and COVID-19 impacts, might be making the housing crisis worse. Over 27.4% lost their housing 6-12 months ago, and 19.2% lost it more than a year ago or up to 5 years ago.
