There is no easy way to measure the extent of homelessness in any community. The experience of homelessness is often transient, and as a result, numerous data sources are required to capture and understand the state of homelessness at any given time. Homeward Trust uses the most up-to-date and proven methods of capturing data on homelessness to assess evolving community needs, examine trends, and to develop and implement solutions that maximize impact and report back to community on the progress towards making homelessness brief and rare.
Data, Analytics & Reporting
Measuring and Reporting on
Homelessness Data and Trends
By Name List (BNL)
The By Name List (BNL) represents the work of over 65 screening locations and partners in Edmonton documenting and referring experiences of homelessness to give us as close to an accurate picture as possible. It is a list of people experiencing homelessness in Edmonton who have accessed services at a Coordinated Access community partner and who have been referred and triaged for housing supports.
Data presented in the dashboard below are captured through Efforts To Outcome (ETO), Edmonton’s Homeless Management Information System utilized by all community partners and data is updated regularly to reflect inflow (people entering the homeless-serving system) and outflow (people exiting the homelessness-serving system).
- individuals who are not actively engaging with service providers
- those who decline to be registered, so while it is a comprehensive resource of individuals who are engaged with services, it is not intended to be the single source of truth in understanding the real-time state of homelessness.
- Coordinated Access List: People who have been screened and referred into the BNL by Coordinated Access community partners and have been prioritized for a housing service that best suits their needs but have yet to be connected to a housing team; and
- Matched List: People who have been prioritized for housing needs AND have connected to Housing Teams to start actively working towards obtaining permanent housing.
- Partners and screening locations may include community drop-ins, shelters, other social agency partners, and affiliated sites such as libraries, recreational facilities, and specialized service providers.
- The BNL is utilized by housing and outreach teams across the city in their daily work with individuals experiencing homelessness. It is a vital component of the Coordinated Access system, which assesses each individual’s needs and matches them with the service provider or housing team that is most suited for their needs and can provide the best path out of homelessness for each individual.
Point-in-Time Count (PiT)
A Point-in-Time Count (PiT) is a nationally-coordinated one-night event to enumerate (count) persons experiencing homelessness to obtain a snapshot of those experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness at that point-in-time. As an annual count and biannual survey, PiT Counts must be used in context with other more recent data and tools on homelessness such as the By Name List, to better understand and support the unique needs of every person experiencing homelessness.
The Pit, contributes to local, provincial and national trends over time and in combination with other tools contributes to our overall understanding of the state of homelessness to help inform planning, program, and service efforts to prevent and end homelessness.
For more details about the 2024 Point-in-Time Count, please see here.
Edmonton Shelters
For the total number of provincially funded shelter beds and historic daily occupancy numbers, please see here.
