Homelessness on P.E.I. has more than doubled in 3 years, non-profit finds

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 12:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

The John Howard Society connected P.E.I. says the fig of stateless radical connected the Island appears to person grown significantly.

The 2024 Point successful Time count conducted by the society found 318 unhoused radical crossed the Island, much than treble the 147 counted successful the survey 3 years before.

Conor Mullin, president of the non-profit group, said the survey this clip took a much broad attack and surveyed communities from extremity to extremity connected the Island, alternatively than focusing lone connected Charlottetown and Summerside.

"What these results amusement is that homelessness is not conscionable a Queens County occupation oregon a Prince County problem. It's not conscionable an municipality problem; it's a occupation that exists Island-wide," Mullin told CBC News.

While the expanded scope of the number did lend to the higher number, Mullin said the findings besides bespeak that the contented has grown larger overall.

"What we're seeing is that arsenic our colonisation increases and becomes possibly much diverse, we're besides seeing that these unsocial populations are suffering from these problems."

Homelessness affects antithetic populations

Mullin said the number started connected Sept. 30 and ran for 24 hours into Oct. 1, 2024. The workout is done astatine the aforesaid clip successful each province, arsenic dictated by Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada.

"It involves having radical retired connected the streets, astatine shelters, retired connected trails, places wherever we cognize stateless populations congregate, gathering people, talking to them, getting conscionable a number of the fig of people," helium said.

The number recovered that 70 per cent of P.E.I.'s unhoused colonisation was located successful Queens County, which includes Charlottetown. But this precocious attraction is apt owed to the information that astir of the stateless services and resources connected the Island are centred successful that region, Mullin said.

"So though immoderate of these individuals whitethorn beryllium from Prince oregon Kings County, they whitethorn beryllium localized successful Queens County conscionable to person person entree to services."

Demographic info collected too

Along with the count, the non-profit besides conducted a survey to stitchery demographic data, including gender, property and whether individuals beryllium to circumstantial groups specified arsenic Indigenous people, newcomers to Canada, oregon veterans.

One of the astir striking findings was the crisp emergence successful homelessness among radical who are caller to the Island, Mullin said.

"There's been astir a tripling successful the homelessness recovered successful that population, from astir 1 per cent successful 2021 to 3 per cent present successful 2024, truthful that tells america that we request to person programs tailored specifically to the newcomer population," helium said.

Indigenous homelessness has besides astir doubled, rising from nine per cent successful 2021 to 17 per cent successful 2024. Mullin said this highlights the request for Indigenous-specific enactment programs.

The fig of veterans experiencing homelessness has besides increased, from astir one per cent to 2.5 per cent.

However, Mullin noted that the John Howard Society of P.E.I. administers a national programme designed to supply lodging for stateless veterans connected the Island.

The radical plans to bash conscionable a number this year, with different operation number and survey successful 2026.