Housing Statistics in Canada
Housing experiences in Canada: People who have previously experienced homelessness
by Jeff Randle, Zheren Hu and Zachary Thurston
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The Housing Experiences in Canada series of fact sheets highlights the diversity of housing situations experienced by different groups of people living across Canada.
This fact sheet focuses on households whose reference person self-identifies as having experienced homelessness—hereafter referred to as households having experienced homelessness, that is, having lived in a homeless shelter, on the street or in parks, in a makeshift shelter or in an abandoned building.Note 1 Statistics below are derived from the 2018 Canadian Housing Survey (CHS). Question collecting this information on the CHS were only asked of the reference person and not of all members of their household. More fact sheets are available on the Housing Experiences in Canada issue page.
The National Housing Strategy Act (2019) declared that “the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law.” Adequate housing is understood in international law as housing that provides secure tenure; is affordable; is habitable; provides access to basic infrastructure; is located close to employment, services and amenities; is accessible for people of all abilities; and is culturally appropriate.
This fact sheet focuses on households having experienced homelessness living in private dwellings using the following indicators collected and produced by Statistics Canada. These are: tenure status of household, shelter costs, housing affordability, condition of dwelling, core housing need, dwelling satisfaction, neighbourhood satisfaction, and household living arrangements.
While these indicators together do not perfectly measure adequate housing as defined in international law, they are nevertheless useful proxies for understanding the housing experiences of people living in Canada.
Tenure status of household
The tenure status of a household refers to whether the household owns or rents its private dwelling.Note 2 Homeownership is an important aspect of Canadian society and can affect outcomes for many housing indicators. For this reason, owner and renter households are often considered separately in housing analyses. In many cases, researchers further examine whether households in owner-occupied dwellings have mortgages on their dwellings and whether renter households pay subsidized rent.
According to the 2018 CHS, 35% of 364,300 households having experienced homelessness lived in dwellings owned by a member of their household in 2018. This was smaller than the share of all households (69%) living in owner-occupied dwellings.
The 128,700 households having experienced homelessness that lived in owner-occupied dwellings can be further divided into the 85,000 households (23%) with a mortgage and the remaining 43,800 households (12%) without a mortgage. Further, households having experienced homelessness were less likely to live in a dwelling without a mortgage when compared with all households (29%).
The remaining 235,600 households having experienced homelessness who lived in rented dwellings can be further divided into the 78,500 households (22%) living in subsidized dwellings and the 156,400 households (43%) not living in subsidized dwellings. Households having experienced homelessness were more likely to live in rented dwellings (65%) than all households (31%) and were also more likely to live in subsidized housing (22%, compared with 4% for all households).
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, tenure status | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| Owner | 128,700 | 35Note * | 10,137,800 | 69 |
| With a mortgage | 85,000 | 23Note * | 5,913,800 | 40 |
| Without a mortgage | 43,800 | 12Note * | 4,224,000 | 29 |
| Renter | 235,600 | 65Note * | 4,652,600 | 31 |
| Subsidized housing | 78,500 | 22Note * | 588,700 | 4 |
| Not subsidized housing | 156,400 | 43Note * | 4,057,100 | 27 |
Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey |
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Shelter costs
Shelter costs refer to the monthly dwelling-related expenses paid by households, including mortgage or rent. For owner-occupied dwellings, shelter costs include, where applicable, mortgage payments, property taxes and condominium fees, along with the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. For renter households, shelter costs include, where applicable, rent and the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services.
In Canada, the median shelter cost paid by households having experienced homelessness was $870 in 2018. This was lower than the median shelter cost of $1,050 for all private households.
Households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings ($1,110) had similar median shelter costs as all households in owner-occupied dwellings ($1,140). There was a difference for households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings ($800), where median shelter costs were lower than for all households ($960).
The median shelter costs paid by households in owner-occupied dwellings are typically larger when there is a mortgage on the dwelling, because a mortgage can represent a large portion of monthly shelter costs. Households having experienced homelessness and a mortgage on their dwelling ($1,690) had similar monthly median shelter costs as all households in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage ($1,770). Median shelter costs for households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings without a mortgage ($380) were lower than for all households ($540).
Similarly, the median shelter cost paid by renter households usually depends on the presence of a rent subsidy.Note 3 Households having experienced homelessness with a rent subsidy ($460) paid less per month in median shelter costs than all households with a subsidy ($530). Households having experienced homelessness without a rent subsidy ($960) paid a similar amount in monthly median shelter costs as all renter households without a subsidy ($1,010).
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |
|---|---|---|
| median (dollars) | ||
| Total, tenure status | 870Note * | 1,050 |
| Owner | 1,110Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,140 |
| With a mortgage | 1,690Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,770 |
| Without a mortgage | 380Note * Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 540 |
| Renter | 800Note * Table 2 Note ‡ | 960 |
| Subsidized housing | 460Note * Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 530 |
| Not subsidized housing | 960Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,010 |
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Housing affordability
Housing affordability is derived using the shelter-cost-to-income ratio, which refers to the proportion of average total income households spend on shelter costs. A household is said to have affordable housing if it spends less than 30% of its total income on shelter costs.Note 4
According to the 2018 CHS, 135,600 households having experienced homelessness (38%) spent more than 30% of their total household income on shelter. This was higher than the 22% of all private households which spent more than 30% of their total household income on shelter.
Households having experienced homelessness living in owner-occupied dwellings (26%) were more likely to be in unaffordable housing than all households in owner-occupied dwellings (17%). This was also true for households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings (44%), where the rate of unaffordable housing was higher than all households (33%).
While households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings were more likely to be in unaffordable housing than all households in owner-occupied dwellings, the rate differed depending on the presence of a mortgage. Households having experienced homelessness with a mortgage (36%) were more likely to be in unaffordable housing than all households with a mortgage (24%).Note 5 Households having experienced homelessness without a mortgage (6%) were just as likely to be in unaffordable housing as all households without a mortgage (6%).
The proportion of households having experienced homelessness living in rented dwellings with a subsidy (30%) that were unaffordable was similar to the proportion for all households in rented dwellings with a subsidy (31%). The proportion of households having experienced homelessness without a rent subsidy (51%) living in unaffordable housing was larger than the proportion for all households with a rent subsidy (33%).Note 6
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, shelter-cost-to-income ratioTable 3 Note 1 | 359,800 | 100 | 14,510,400 | 100 |
| Spending more than 30% of income on shelter costs | 135,600 | 38Note * | 3,165,000 | 22 |
| Owner | 32,300 | 26Note * Table 3 Note † Table 3 Note ‡ | 1,657,600 | 17 |
| With a mortgage | 29,700 | 36Note * Table 3 Note ‡ | 1,403,100 | 24 |
| Without a mortgage | 2,600 | 6Table 3 Note † Table 3 Note ‡ | 254,500 | 6 |
| Renter | 103,200 | 44Note * Table 3 Note † Table 3 Note ‡ | 1,507,400 | 33 |
| Subsidized housing | 23,400 | 30Table 3 Note † Table 3 Note ‡ | 180,600 | 31 |
| Not subsidized housing | 79,700 | 51Note * Table 3 Note ‡ | 1,325,600 | 33 |
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Housing suitability
Housing suitability refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS), that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. The indicator assesses the required number of bedrooms for a household based on the age and sex of household members, and the relationships between them.
According to the 2018 CHS, 24,900 households having experienced homelessness (7%) were in unsuitable housing, meaning that there were not enough bedrooms in the dwelling to meet the needs of their household, according to the NOS. This is comparable to the 5% of all households living in unsuitable housing.
Households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings had lower rates of unsuitable housing than those in rented dwellings, and these rates were comparable to all households in dwellings of the same tenure. The rate of unsuitable housing for households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings was 3% and for those in rented dwellings, it was 9%. For all households in owner-occupied and rented dwellings, the rates of unsuitable housing were also 3% and 9%, respectively.
Differences in the rates of unsuitable housing between households having experienced homelessness and all households in rented dwellings by presence of a subsidy were not statistically significant.
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, housing suitability | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| Not suitable | 24,900 | 7 | 747,100 | 5 |
| Owner | 3,800 | 3Table 4 Note † Table 4 Note ‡ | 306,900 | 3 |
| With a mortgage | 3,700 | 4Table 4 Note ‡ | 249,100 | 4 |
| Without a mortgage | 100 | 0s Note * Table 4 Note † Table 4 Note ‡ | 57,800 | 1 |
| Renter | 21,000 | 9Table 4 Note ‡ | 440,300 | 9 |
| Subsidized housing | 5,500 | 7 | 47,900 | 8 |
| Not subsidized housing | 15,400 | 10 | 391,600 | 10 |
Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey |
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Condition of dwelling
Data on condition of dwelling are used to provide some insight into whether housing is habitable. Dwellings are classified into three groups by condition: needing regular maintenance only, needing minor repairs and needing major repairs. Dwellings in need of major repairs are considered to be inadequate housing. Examples of dwellings in need of major repairs include homes with defective plumbing or electrical wiring, and housing needing structural repairs to walls, floors, or ceilings.
In 2018, according to the CHS, 19% of all households having experienced homelessness lived in private dwellings that were in need of major repairs. This is higher than the 7% of all households that reported living in dwellings in need of major repairs.
Households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied and rented dwellings lived in dwellings in need of major repairs at a higher rate than the total population. The proportion of households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings requiring major repairs was 22%, compared with 6% for all households.Note 7 For households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings, the proportion living in dwellings requiring major repairs was 17%, compared with 8% for all households.Note 8
Differences in the proportion of households living in dwellings in need of major repairs for households having experienced homelessness by presence of a mortgage were not statistically significant. The same was true for households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings with the presence of a rent subsidy.
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, dwelling condition | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| Dwelling in need of major repairs | 68,600 | 19Note * | 1,052,900 | 7 |
| Owner | 28,400 | 22Note * | 658,400 | 6 |
| With a mortgage | 16,700 | 20Note * | 411,100 | 7 |
| Without a mortgage | 11,700 | 27Note * | 247,300 | 6 |
| Renter | 40,200 | 17Note * | 394,600 | 8 |
| Subsidized housing | 11,700 | 15 | 59,300 | 10 |
| Not subsidized housing | 28,400 | 18Note * | 334,200 | 8 |
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Core housing need
Core housing need touches on several elements of the right to adequate housing. It considers whether the affordability, suitability, and condition of dwelling needs of the household are being met and if not, whether affordable rental housing is available that meets all these needs. A household is said to be in core housing need if their dwelling falls below at least one of the affordability, suitability, or condition of dwelling standards, and would have to spend 30% or more of their total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards).
According to the 2018 CHS, 34% of households having experienced homelessness were in core housing need. This is higher than the 12% of all households in core housing need.
Households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings (16%) were more likely to be in core housing need than all households in owner-occupied dwellings (7%). This was also true for renter households. The proportion of households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings living in core housing need was 43%, while, for all households in rented dwellings, the rate was 23%.
The rate of core housing need was also higher for households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage than all households with a mortgage. Among households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage, 16% were in core housing need, compared with 7% of all households.
Similarly, the rate of core housing need varied for renter households depending on whether there was a rent subsidy. Households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings without a subsidy (45%) were more likely to be in core housing need than all households without a subsidy (21%).Note 9
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, core housing needTable 6 Note 1 | 345,100 | 100 | 14,185,100 | 100 |
| In core housing need | 115,700 | 34Note * | 1,644,900 | 12 |
| Owner | 19,500 | 16Note * Table 6 Note † Table 6 Note ‡ | 632,700 | 7 |
| With a mortgage | 13,000 | 16Note * | 373,400 | 7 |
| Without a mortgage | 6,500 | 15 | 259,300 | 6 |
| Renter | 96,200 | 43Note * Table 6 Note † Table 6 Note ‡ | 1,012,200 | 23 |
| Subsidized housing | 31,300 | 40 | 193,600 | 34 |
| Not subsidized housing | 64,700 | 45Note * | 817,300 | 21 |
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Dwelling satisfaction
According to the 2018 CHS, approximately 64% of households having experienced homelessness were satisfied with their dwelling. This is lower than the proportion of all households that were satisfied with their dwelling (83%).
By tenure, 77% of households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings were satisfied with their dwelling. This is lower than the 88% of all households in owner-occupied dwellings that were satisfied. For households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings (56%), the rate of dwelling satisfaction was also lower than all households in rented dwellings (71%).
For households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings, the rate of dwelling satisfaction was the same, regardless of whether the household had a mortgage (77%). This dwelling satisfaction rate is lower than all households in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage (86%) and without one (90%).
For households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings with and without a subsidy, the rate of dwelling satisfaction was lower than all households. The dwelling satisfaction rate for households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings was 57% for those with a subsidy and 56% for those without.Note 10 For all households, the dwelling satisfaction rate was 73% for those in rented dwellings with a subsidy and 71% for those without.
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, overall dwelling satisfaction | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| Satisfied (or very satisfied) with dwelling overall | 232,100 | 64Note * | 12,221,300 | 83 |
| Owner | 99,200 | 77Note * Table 7 Note † Table 7 Note ‡ | 8,908,000 | 88 |
| With a mortgage | 65,700 | 77Note * | 5,111,100 | 86 |
| Without a mortgage | 33,500 | 77Note * | 3,796,900 | 90 |
| Renter | 132,900 | 56Note * Table 7 Note † Table 7 Note ‡ | 3,313,300 | 71 |
| Subsidized housing | 45,000 | 57Note * | 428,700 | 73 |
| Not subsidized housing | 87,600 | 56Note * | 2,879,600 | 71 |
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Neighbourhood satisfaction
At the time of the 2018 CHS, 69% of households having experienced homelessness were satisfied with their neighbourhood. This is lower than the proportion of all households satisfied with their neighbourhood (86%).
By tenure, 78% of households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings were satisfied with their neighbourhood. This is lower than the 88% of all households in owner-occupied dwellings that were satisfied. For households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings (64%), the rate of neighbourhood satisfaction was also lower than all households in rented dwellings (80%).
Households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings without a mortgage (73%) were also less likely to be satisfied with their neighbourhood than all households without a mortgage (89%).Note 11
For households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings, the rate of neighbourhood satisfaction was lower than all households for those both with and without a subsidy. The neighbourhood satisfaction rate for households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings was 62% for those with a subsidy and 66% for those without.Note 12 Note 13 For all households, the neighbourhood satisfaction rate was 76% for households with a subsidy and 81% for those without.
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, overall neighbourhood satisfaction | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| Satisfied (or very satisfied) with neighbourhood overall | 252,300 | 69Note * | 12,653,500 | 86 |
| Owner | 101,000 | 78Note * Table 8 Note † Table 8 Note ‡ | 8,912,200 | 88 |
| With a mortgage | 69,100 | 81 | 5,144,000 | 87 |
| Without a mortgage | 31,800 | 73Note * | 3,768,100 | 89 |
| Renter | 151,400 | 64Note * Table 8 Note ‡ | 3,741,300 | 80 |
| Subsidized housing | 48,400 | 62Note * | 449,100 | 76 |
| Not subsidized housing | 102,600 | 66Note * | 3,287,100 | 81 |
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Household living arrangements
Household living arrangements refer to whether a person lives with another person or people, and, if so, whether they are related to that person or those people. Households can be further differentiated based on whether they are census family households or non-census-family households. Census family households contain at least one census family.Note 14 Non-census-family households are either one person living alone or a group of two or more people who live together but do not constitute a census family (for example, roommates).
According to the 2018 CHS, about half (51%) of households having experienced homelessness were one-census-family households. This was below the proportion for all households (65%). Of these one-census-family households having experienced homelessness, couple family households without children (17%) were more common than those with children (14%). Among all households, couple family households with children (28%) were just as common as couple family households without children (28%).
Non-census-family households were more common among households having experienced homelessness (47%) than all households (33%). This is because a large proportion of households having experienced homelessness were one-person households (41%). By comparison, 29% of all private households in Canada were one-person households.
| Households having experienced homelessness | All households | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, household type | 364,300 | 100 | 14,790,400 | 100 |
| One-census-family householdTable 9 Note 1 | 186,200 | 51Note * | 9,639,200 | 65 |
| Couple family without children | 62,200 | 17Note * | 4,156,700 | 28 |
| Couple family with children | 49,500 | 14Note * | 4,113,900 | 28 |
| One parent family | 74,500 | 20Note * | 1,368,600 | 9 |
| Multiple-census-family householdTable 9 Note 1 | 6,500 | 2 | 313,300 | 2 |
| Non-census-family household | 171,600 | 47Note * | 4,837,900 | 33 |
| One-person household | 151,100 | 41Note * | 4,243,100 | 29 |
| Two- or more person household | 20,500 | 6Note * | 594,800 | 4 |
Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey |
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Interpreting the results
The Canadian Housing Survey (CHS) is a representative sample survey drawn from a frame of private dwellings across Canada. Since the survey sample is drawn from private households, individuals living in the following forms of housing are not included in the data:
- people living on reserves and in other Indigenous settlements
- official representatives of foreign countries living in Canada, and their families
- members of religious and other communal colonies
- members of the Canadian Armed Forces living on military bases
- people living in seniors’ residences
- people living full time in institutions (e.g., inmates of penal institutions, and chronic care patients living in hospitals and nursing homes)
- people living in other types of collective dwellings (e.g., shelters, campgrounds and hotels).
The survey results are an outcome of the sampling procedure that estimates a true value with an acceptable level of uncertainty. Therefore, it is not recommended to compare any two numbers published above unless the comparison is made in the text. This fact sheet features three types of comparisons:
- comparisons of estimates between the focus population group and the total population (for example, the percentage of households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings core housing need, compared with the percentage of all households in rented dwellings in core housing need)
- comparisons of estimates between a category and the category total within the focus population group (for example, the percentage of households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings in core housing need, compared with the percentage of all households having experienced homelessness in core housing need)
- comparisons of estimates between categories within the focus population group (for example, the percentage of households having experienced homelessness in rented dwellings in core housing need, compared with the percentage of households having experienced homelessness in owner-occupied dwellings in core housing need).
Each of these three comparisons provides a different insight to understand the housing experiences of the focus population group. A statistical test is conducted to see whether the two estimates are different from one another at the 95% confidence level—often stated as 19 times in 20. The test results are presented for percentage statistics in the tables on relative prevalence or median shelter costs only; test results are omitted for statistics on the associated number of people.
When other comparisons are made between sample results presented in the fact sheets or data tables, it is important to remember that it cannot be concluded with a degree of certainty that the observed difference is not attributable to variation from the sampling procedure.
About the data
The estimates presented in this fact sheet are from the 2018 Canadian Housing Survey (CHS). Additional socioeconomic and demographic highlights are from the 2016 Census of Population. For detailed information on the CHS or any of the indicators in this fact sheet, please refer to the following:
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