Toronto halts monthly reporting on number of deaths in its shelter system

Anti-poverty advocates are seen marching to city hall after a ceremony at the Toronto Homeless Memorial in 2020. (Janice Golding)

The keeper of the names at the Toronto Homeless Memorial isn’t an easy job to begin with, but Gru, currently serving in the role, says a recent decision by the city to change the way it reports shelter deaths will only make it more difficult.

On Thursday, the City of Toronto’s Shelter, Support & Housing Administration (SSHA) department confirmed to CTV News Toronto that it would no longer provide monthly data on the number of people who die in its shelter system. Instead, that information will be provided bi-annually, in March and September.

The SSHA said its data is a sub-set of Toronto Public Health’s, and that the move is meant to align with their reporting schedule.

“I realized that the change had happened a few months ago when I reached out to the city looking for January’s data,” Gru told CTV News Toronto Friday. At that point, it was early March and he had been waiting for the data for weeks, he said.

He said it took about a month of back-and-forth with TPH, then SSHA staff before he was informed the department would be changing its reporting schedule from monthly to bi-annually.

“That is absolutely unacceptable,” Gru said. “It takes away a grieving process, and really crucially, [..] it’s further dehumanizing and anonymizing those who are dying in [city] care.”

Anthony Toderian, spokesperson for the city, said the move was in response to continued “confusion” regarding the difference between SSHA’s reporting schedule and TPH’s.

“To make the relationship more clear, starting in 2023, the deaths of shelter residents data will be published biannually,” Toderian said in a statement to CTV News Toronto. When it is released, it will still be broken down by month, he added.

To the claims that the move puts forth a barrier to freedom of information, Toderian reiterated the city’s commitment to transparency.

“This change is being done to align the release of related data sets, to eliminate confusion and make it easier for people to understand how shelter deaths are counted in the broader deaths of people experiencing homelessness dashboard,” he said.

Gru disagrees. He said TPH’s data and bi-annual schedule have long been insufficient -- that often, a lack of identifying information has resulted in a flood of Jane and John Does to memorialize.

“We were already having to memorialize people who are unknown,” he said. “It’s disgusting.”

In early April, Gru said on Twitter that at this point, he isn’t sure of “how to further address, but felt the community deserves to know of this policy change [..] and why the Homeless Memorial will be sparsely populated this year until Thanksgiving.”

The department has collected and reported monthly on those deaths since 2007.

The next Toronto Homeless Memorial will take place on Tuesday at 12 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity, located at 19 Trinity Square.

The Toronto Homeless Memorial remembers those who have died as a result of homelessness in Toronto. (Joanna Lavoie photo)