The risk of an unhoused person dying on Hamilton, Ont. streets between the months of June and November hasn’t gotten better over last three years, according to a team of independent researchers.
Over a six-month evaluation period in late 2023, a group of health analysts and social workers are reporting 21 more deaths among those experiencing homelessness in the city, similar to the 22 reported in 2021 and the 23 during the same period in 2022.
“A lot of the data that we’re reporting this time around, it isn’t necessarily new data that we’re presenting. It’s things that we’ve seen before,” said Suraj Bansal, a health sciences student at McMaster University and a research student with HAMSMaRT.
“We’ve demonstrated in the past that the average age of death for someone who is without housing is about half of the life expectancy of someone in Hamilton.”
The examination submits average life expectancy for those unhoused, 46 years old, was a little bit higher in late 2023 than in previous cycles and averages out to 42 since they started data collection in June of 2021.
Between 2014 and 2016, Statistics Canada reported the life expectancy of an average Hamiltonian was 81.
Overdoses are still a leading cause of mortality, accounting for 11 of the deaths while four were unknown.
Homicide, stroke, heart attack and victims of infections accounted for causes in the remaining six deaths.
Bansal believes the numbers reaffirm that homelessness itself is actually connected to an increased risk of mortality.
“Since we started our data collection, we can see that one person without housing in the city has actually died every 10 days,” he explained.
“The cumulative mortality count since we began, now includes about 91 people who have died or experiencing homelessness that we’re aware of.”
Eighteen of the 21 dead were men, with nine dying in hospital and nine passing at a shelter.
Six died in November, just one in August, five in both July and September with June and October recording two each.
Close to 1,900 people are believed to be homeless in Hamilton with an estimated 200 visibly homeless and living in encampments.
In March, Hamilton’s Housing Focused Street Outreach team said they had regular contact with some 58 active encampment sites and roughly 140 individuals.
Bansal admits there are still some cracks in the data they’re collecting and that the likelihood of higher mortality numbers among those living rough across the city is possible.
The group has been urging the provincial coroner’s office to partner with city agencies working with those who are homeless to better understand why people are dying.
“We haven’t made too much progress or advancements in terms of a partnership with the coroner’s office, but something we’re still kind of pushing for,” Bansal revealed.
The City of Hamilton estimates it spent about $80 million to address homelessness in the city last year.
About $28 million in aid came from the province and another $9.9 million in federal money.