Deaths of People Experiencing Homelessness

Toronto Public Health (TPH) leads the data collection, analysis and reporting of deaths of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. Toronto Shelter and Support Services (TSSS), community agencies supporting people experiencing homelessness, the Toronto Homeless Memorial, and the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC) for Ontario contribute data to this initiative. Data sets are cross-referenced and analyzed to remove duplicates. For this data collection initiative, homelessness is defined as “the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it”. This dataset begins in 2022.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Dataset Category Tablo
Refresh Rate Semi-annually
Collection Method
Excerpt This dataset includes information related to the deaths of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. This includes people living in shelters and respite centres, as well as people living outdoors or at other locations. Details include the number of deaths occurring per month and year, by age group, gender, cause of death, and setting of death.
Limitations * These data reflects only deaths that are reported to TPH from TSSS, community partners, the Toronto Homeless Memorial, and the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC) for Ontario and could be an underestimate of the true number of deaths among the unhoused community. * In 2024, the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC) for Ontario started sharing death investigation data for people identified as experiencing homelessness with public health units. These new data increased the number of reported deaths from 2022 onward, therefore data prior to 2022 has been archived. * For information provided by TSSS, data are extracted from their Shelter Management Information System (SMIS) and reflect the information provided by the client when registering for shelter services. Some of the data are also collected in the Death of a Shelter Resident form. * For deaths reported through TPH’s secure web-based reporting tool and from the Toronto Homeless Memorial, information is provided by a third person and in some instances cannot be verified. * For reports from the OCC, only data on sex and not gender are currently provided. This may result in some individuals being misgendered. * Cause of death can only be confirmed by the OCC if the death was investigated by the OCC. Coroners investigate deaths that appear to be from unnatural causes or natural deaths that occur suddenly or unexpectedly. * Prior to 2023, Indigenous status was unknown or missing in over 70% of the deaths reported to TPH through the online reporting tool. With this high a percentage of missing information, accurate conclusions could not be drawn, and in keeping with standard epidemiological practice, this variable was suppressed. In 2023, the question about Indigenous status was removed from the TPH reporting tool. * Cause of death for transgender people is not shown due to small counts which risks reidentification. * Small cell counts are suppressed to maintain privacy and confidentiality. * Data are subject to change should TPH receive additional reports or further information on existing reports. Previously published data may change due to delays in reporting. The most recently published data should be considered the most complete.
Owner Division Toronto Public Health
Owner Section Epidemiology and Data Analytics Unit
Owner Unit Health Status and Behaviour
Owner Email EDAU@toronto.ca
Author Email EDAU@toronto.ca
Maintainer Email EDAU@toronto.ca
Author EDAU@toronto.ca
Civic Issues
  • Affordable housing
  • Poverty reduction
Formatlar
  • CSV
  • XML
  • JSON
Topics
  • City government
  • Community services
  • Health
Source
Information URL https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-inspections-monitoring/
Image URL
Last Updated 2026-03-10 19:31:04.059014
Is Retired? False
Date Published 2023-05-01 14:18:24.389728