The City of Saskatoon says figures in the 2025 Point in Time Homelessness Highlights and Key Findings Report are concerning, but unfortunately not surprising. 

The report, released Monday, details the findings of the Point in Time Homelessness count that took place in October.

City Director Leslie Anderson says in 2025, volunteers counted 1931 homeless people in Saskatoon- the majority, 725, of which were unsheltered. In 2024, volunteers counted 1500 homeless people, meaning there has been a 30 per cent increase year-over-year. 

“We continue to see that income is a real challenge for people to be able to meet their daily needs and get a rent that they can afford. We saw that as the driving factor.”

Anderson says 219 of the 1931 people surveyed as homeless were under the age of 12. Although this sounds jarring, this number is actually down from 2024, when there were roughly 315 children on the street. 

“There might have been more movement of people from transitional housing units to affordable housing units where they have a longer tenancy. So, it just depends on which families might be in the transitional housing units.”

Other data from the report indicates that 82.9 per cent of respondents were of Indigenous descent, up from 80 per cent in 2024.  

“Unfortunately, it’s not a surprising number. It really goes back to our understanding of the systems that have led to Indigenous homelessness, the residential schools, and the impact of that to our communities.”

Anderson says under the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, the City approved the construction of 756 new affordable housing units in 2024, 298 of which have been started on.