One of the most urgent tasks awaiting Toronto’s next mayor will be to turn council’s recent declaration of a homelessness emergency into action.
City council made the declaration in May in the face of the converging crises of housing unaffordability, mental health and addictions, which together have had lethal consequences for the city’s most vulnerable. Three people experiencing homelessness died each week last year, on average, according to city data, for a total of 187 deaths in 2022. More than 220 died while homeless in 2021.
