Number of tents set up by unhoused people rising, city data shows

The number of tents set up by unhoused people in encampments has more than doubled in Toronto in the past year, new data from the city shows.

On March 15, 2024, there were 202 tents across the city. That's compared to 82 on the same day a year ago, according to data from the city's parks, forestry and recreation division. In 2021, on the same day and during the pandemic, there were 291 tents in Toronto.

The data also suggests that people are taking shelters in parks that haven't seen encampments before. On March 15 this year, the number of locations where there were encampments was 72, while on the same day last year, that number was 24.

Advocates say they are not surprised by the rising numbers and called on the city and province to take steps to improve the situation facing unhoused people. These steps include keeping open 24-hour winter respite spaces set to close Monday, as part of the city's winter services plan, and implementing provincial rent control on new rental units.

"What we're seeing is a trend that's been going on for a long time and it just keeps getting worse," Greg Cook, an outreach worker at Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto, said on Friday.

Cook said unhoused people are in tents scattered across the city, with seemingly many more on the periphery than in previous years. Advocates believe that many people are not only being evicted from housing in the city's outer suburbs, but also are sheltering in their communities of choice, closer to friends and services that they know.

Last year, there was a greater concentration of encampments downtown than there appears to be this year, he said. 

"Clearing an encampment doesn't magically get people housing," he said. "People have to find places that are probably more in ravines and out of sight so they are less likely to be cleared."

According to the city, the largest encampment is in Clarence Square Park, near Wellington Street West and Spadina Avenue, where there are 23 tents or structures. The next largest encampment is in Cherry Beach's Clarke Beach Park, at the foot of Cherry Street, with 13 tents, and the third largest is in Allan Gardens, near Carlton and Sherbourne streets, where there are 12 tents.

Cook, a member of the Shelter and Housing Justice Network, said the network wants the city to keep its winter 24-hour respite centres spaces open and to adopt a "robust" human rights approach to encampments.

"The city knows that the situation is really bad," he said. "We really need the city not to react and to make sure that people have safe and secure housing that they can go to instead of being stuck outside."

According to the city, the number of people "actively" homeless in Toronto in the last three months is 11,173. The number of people who used the city's shelter system was 9,594 on April 11, while the average number of people unable to secure a shelter bed nightly was 158 in February.

Diana Chan McNally, harm reduction case manager for All Saints Toronto, a church and community centre, said on Friday the increase in encampments makes sense. She said action is needed from all three levels of government.

"I think all of us who are doing this kind of work, frontline, are completely unsurprised by the fact that we are seeing more people living outdoors," she said.