The City of Toronto’s shelter resident death statistics haven’t been updated since January — owing to decisions to delay certain “routine” reports during the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto Public Health told PressProgress.
CPJ’s socio-economic policy analyst Natalie Appleyard told PressProgress, “reporting publicly on the health outcomes and mortality rates of people experiencing poverty and homelessness is critical in understanding the impacts of our policy and spending decisions, particularly in the midst of a public health crisis.”
“This information can both help us stop the spread of this novel virus and address the pre-existing crises of homelessness, poverty, and inequity in our country. The same groups of people and communities facing systemic inequity face the greatest risks to their health and livelihoods,” Appleyard said.