Homeless count sheds light on housing situation in Sask. cities

A recently completed survey found hundreds of people in Saskatchewan don't have permanent homes.

The Point-in-Time (PIT) Count for Homelessnesstook a closer look at the state of homelessness inRegina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

Volunteers identified 461 people in Saskatoon and286 in Reginawho were identified as homeless.

"I was a little bit surprised at the number of people in that three-hour span who were homeless, because a point-in-time count are just that, just a point in time, nothing before and nothing after," said Addison Docherty, director of Regina's count.

Why do we have so many open spaces?- Addison Docherty, Director of Regina's Point-in-Time Homeless Count

Hundreds of volunteers assisted with the count on April 18, 2018. They canvassed the cities andsurveyed people about their living situations.

Thesurvey helps revealed the larger picture of homelessness in the province, Docherty said. He it doesn't make sense thatRegina's has a high vacancy rate and a high rate of homelessness.

"Why do we have so many open spaceswhen we have a higher number of people who don't have a residence to return too?" Docherty said.

Of the286 people identified in the Regina survey, six said they slept in public spaces or makeshift shelters. Another 18 said they didn't know where they were going to sleep. Four were in public systems such as jail, a hospital or a detox centre.

The majority of those counted were in emergency shelters or some type of transitional housing.

Docherty said the difference from the previous count in 2015 was that this year hidden homelessness people staying with family or friends or couch surfing was counted.

Saskatoon has higher total than Regina

In Saskatoon, 90 of the461 peopleself identifying as homeless were found to haveno shelter at all.

The majority of those surveyed 186 adults, 3 youth and 9 children under the age of 10 were in some sort of sheltered residence.

The final provincial report on the countis expected to be completed and released in mid-June. It will contain all three cities final numbers, along with more specific demographicand logistical information.

The results of Prince Albert's count were unavailable Wednesday.