Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions - Public Release of Toronto Shelter System Flow Data 

The City of Toronto, through its Shelter, Supports and Housing Administration (SSHA) division, launched Toronto’s new Shelter System Flow data dashboards on March 1, 2021.  The data include information about people experiencing homelessness who are entering and leaving the shelter system each month. 

The following FAQ were developed to support this launch on March 1, 2021.  We will update this periodically to collect new questions and answers over the coming months.

Data source and collection

1. Who is included in this data? 

  • The Shelter System Flow data are collected through the Shelter Information Management System (SMIS) used to operate shelters, respites, and other allied services including warming centres that are funded by the City of Toronto.

  • Based on the most recent Street Needs Assessment, approximately 18 per cent of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto are not currently included in this data as they were not staying in a location that captures data through SMIS. On completion of the 2021 Street Needs Assessment, this analysis will be updated. 

  • The data do not include people who are exclusively sleeping outdoors, or people who are staying in an overnight homelessness service funded by other levels of government (for example, Violence Against Women shelters). 

  • These individuals would still be included in the data if they have had at least one night of stay with an overnight homelessness service in the reporting month or in any two previous months.

  • Over time, the data will be expanded to capture more people, such as people sleeping outdoors and people using overnight homelessness services that are not funded by the City of Toronto to provide more comprehensive picture of all people experiencing homelessness in Toronto.

2. How is this data collected? 

  • The data is collected through administrative and intake processes through the Shelter Information Management System (SMIS). SMIS is designed to assist with day-to-day shelter administration in a secure environment. 

  • The same information management system is used to generate SSHA's Daily Occupancy Reports.

3. Is data available from previous years?

Data for all months in 2020 has been published through the Open Data portal and is visualized in the Historical Trends tab on the City Website. Additional data will be added each month throughout 2021

4. How is the Shelter System Flow data different from Daily Shelter Occupancy Data?

  • Daily Shelter Occupancy data describe the occupancy and capacity of the shelter and allied services system. These data provide a snapshot of the system at 4 am each day. The data include occupancy and capacity figures for different overnight program types and for different sectors served within the shelter system. 

  • In comparison, the Shelter System Flow data help us understand who is entering and existing the shelter system, and who is actively experiencing homelessness.

  • Data are reported monthly and capture the movement of unique people who have had contact with the homelessness service system over the past three months, not just in the previous day. 

5. Why isn't episodic homelessness included in the data? 

  • As the chronic homelessness now includes people who are more transient, episodic homelessness has not been separately included in this report. 

Data use/analysis

6. How will this data inform SSHA and its stakeholders in service planning and delivery?  

SSHA and TAEH will monitor this data over the next several months for monthly, seasonal, and annual trends. This will provide an opportunity to inform the design and implementation of programs and services.  Some examples of how we can use this information to inform system planning and delivery are: 

  • Understanding the impact of homelessness prevention strategies by looking at inflow into homelessness.

  • Understanding how successful housing programs are in creating housing stability by considering the number of people who are returning to shelter from permanent housing

  • Understanding the success of homelessness service programs to transition people to permanent housing by considering the number of people moving to permanent housing each month

  • Understanding the ongoing need for affordable and supportive housing by considering the number of new people experiencing homelessness each month, and the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness each month. 

8. Why is there such a big reduction in the number of people experiencing Active Homelessness in April 2020? Does this reflect a reduction in shelter capacity at this time?

  • The delivery of the City's Homelessness Service System changed dramatically in response to COVID- 19 pandemic. 

  • The shelter system saw a reduction in the number of people accessing shelter services in April 2020 due to an immediate reduction in capacity through converting family shelters located in hotels into shelters serving single individuals. This was done by placing one person per hotel room, as opposed to placing one family per hotel room which was done previously. This conversion of services was done to support social distancing.

  • This is a good reminder that the Shelter System Flow data is different to SSHA's Daily Occupancy data. A reduction in the total number of unique people actively experiencing homelessness in the shelter system is not necessarily caused by reduced capacity but may indicate that people who are using the system are staying longer and therefore fewer unique people are being served. This is further highlighted in the chronic homelessness data where we see an increase in this population over a similar timeframe. 

  • Additional factors that may potentially explain these reductions include reduced access to services due to COVID restrictions, reduced evictions due to eviction prevention policies and programs, and warmer weather conditions in April compared to winter months.

9. Do we know if people are entering the shelter system after being evicted? 

The data do not currently capture this information. However, an in-depth analysis of the data is being done, and changes to data collection tools are being made, to better understand where people were staying prior to their entry into the shelter system.

By Name Lists and Coordinated Access

10. What is a By Name List? Is this data Toronto's By Name List?

  • A By-Name List is a real-time list of all people experiencing homelessness in a single community.  It includes a set of actionable data points that support coordinated access, prioritization, and connection to permanent housing at an individual level, and an understanding of homeless system inflow and outflow at a system level. 

  • The Shelter System Flow data is the system-level, aggregate data from Toronto's current By Name List. The data provides critical information to monitor system performance

11. Is this considered a "Quality By Name List"?

  • The Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness identifies that a quality By Name List is achieved when 10 key criteria are met.

  • Toronto currently meets 8 out of those 10 criteria. The introduction of a veteran identification question, and the ability to add people who are sleeping outdoors to the list are the two criteria which remain. 

  • SSHA anticipate these two criteria will be met in 2021, with work currently underway to pilot the functionality of current systems for these groups.

  • In addition to the ten criteria, CAEH require that communities have a reliability ratio of below 15% for three consecutive months in order to confidently be able to use their data to inform system planning. 

  • The reliability ratio for Toronto's data is below 1% for all months from January 2020.

  • The reliability ratio considers the difference between "net inflow and outflow", and the "monthly change in the active homeless population" and ensures that the flow of people through the system is being reported accurately.

12. Is this data available at a client level and at an individual site level? 

  • The By Name List includes each individual who is reflected in this report, along with information about if they are experiencing chronic homeless, and additional demographic information.

  • The By Name List is being used to inform SSHA's operations to support prioritization and connection to housing and supports through a Coordinated Access System. 

  • Using this data to administer these operations is within the scope of Shelter Information Management System Privacy and Data Sharing policies and agreements. 

  • The Shelter Information Management System (SMIS) also includes client- level reports and site- level reports to each shelter site. While these reports include some information contained in Shelter System Flow Data, they will be enhanced to reflect similar data to what is included in the aggregate reports and be improved to better support the work from front-line staff.

13. Can you tell us more about Coordinated Access Systems and what is currently happening in Toronto to support this work? 

  • Coordinated Access systems are designed to streamline the process for people experiencing homelessness to access the housing and support services needed to permanently end their homelessness and ensure system adjustments are data-informed and evidence-based.

SSHA has been working collaboratively with the Toronto Indigenous Community Advisory Board, and the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness to design and implement a Coordinated Access system in Toronto.  

This includes:

  • the development of a common assessment tool which is currently being piloted in select locations in preparation for roll out across the system;

  • the identification and connection of people experiencing homelessness with vacant housing with supports opportunities that meet their support needs (this includes work currently happening through the Rapid Rehousing Initiative); and 

  • increasing the number of people who are captured on the By Name List. This includes work which is currently underway to ensure street outreach teams can add people they are working with to the BNL. In the meantime, manual processes are in place to ensure people sleeping outdoors continue to get access to housing opportunities.

14. How is SSHA working towards improving data collection processes? 

  • Front line staff members play a significant role in consistent, accurate, and timely collection of information to support data quality.

  • As SSHA has been making changes to data collection and information management systems, training to front-line staff around the importance of capturing accurate and timely information has been a focus.

  • Recent enhancements in the Shelter Information Management System (SMIS) allow staff to enter discharge to housing within two weeks after a client has left a shelter. This is done to support information about housing outcomes being recorded accurately. 

  • Additional work is being done to ground SMIS enhancements in user research and ensure that the needs of front-line staff and clients are being met, while providing the information needed to inform systems level planning.

  • Through Civic Hall Toronto, SSHA has worked with national non-profit Code for Canada to further embed user research in our practices.

The Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness (TAEH) is a community-based collective impact initiative committed to ending homelessness in Toronto.