Homeless count finds 390 people unhoused in the Cochrane district

During a single 24-hour period last October, a total of 390 people experienced homelessness in the Cochrane district, which includes Timmins, and other communities.

That was a key finding of the Cochrane District Services Board's point-in-time count, which took place on Oct. 10 – followed by a one-month period during which the board and its partners conducted detailed surveys of unhoused people.

Three hundred and eighty-one people answered the larger survey, a 55 per cent increase over the previous survey period in 2021, according to an administrative report presented at a recent board meeting.

The count found: 

• 36 per cent of individuals were living in encampments
• 21 per cent were residing in transitional housing programs
• 16 per cent were in emergency and extreme weather shelters
• 15 per cent were unsheltered
• 8 per cent were residing in violence against women (VAW) shelters
• 4 per cent of individuals were within provincial systems, including the health and/or corrections systems

Officials conducted the surveys in Timmins, Cochrane, Matheson, Iroquois Falls, Hearst, Kapuskasing, Smooth Rock Falls and Moosonee, the report said.

They partnered with transitional housing providers, domestic violence shelters and emergency weather shelters to carry it out.

The survey found that youth homelessness is on the rise in the district, with youth making up 10 per cent of the homeless population; a full 35 per cent of people said they had become homeless prior to the age of 19.

Inability to afford housing the leading cause of homelessness

Sixty-five per cent of unhoused youth had prior experience with the child welfare or foster care systems, according to the report. 

Indigenous people remain over-represented in the unhoused population; a full 79 per cent of survey respondents were Indigenous. 

And two per cent of unhoused people surveyed were gender diverse. 

The number one reason for homelessness across all age groups was an inability to afford housing.

A total of 91 per cent of unhoused people also reported at least one health condition, of which substance use issues were the most commonly-cited at 67 per cent.

The second most prevalent was mental health issues at 52 per cent.

Sixty-seven per cent of people surveyed had been homeless for more than 18 months. 

Sixty-four per cent had been homeless for the entirety of the preceding 12 months. 

"Addressing homelessness requires ongoing collaboration between governments, service providers and communities to ensure no one is left behind," the report said.

Its recommendations include:

• Expanding culturally competent supports for Indigenous and gender diverse people
• Implementing targeted interventions to prevent and address youth homelessness
• Strengthening supports for seniors and older adults experiencing homelessness
• Promoting economic stability and the expansion of affordable housing