At least 22 Hamiltonians experiencing homelessness died between June and November

At least 22 people experiencing homelessness died in Hamilton in the second half of last year — nearly double the number from the previous six months, but identical to the same span of months a year earlier.

Those 22 people died between June and November, 2022, the most recent six-month period for which data is available.

In the previous six months, from December 2021 to last May, 12 people died while unhoused, according to the group of local healthcare providers that has been tracking deaths among this population for more than a year and a half.

Their data also showed that 22 people died between June and November 2021, revealing overdose as the most frequent killer of people living on the streets.

"Thirty-six per cent died under violent circumstances like homicide, fire, suicide, or traumatic injury; 41 per cent died of an overdose," states a release issued Tuesday by the Deaths in the Hamilton Homeless Population research team. The team includes Dr. Claire Bodkin, Dr. Inna Berditchevskaia, Dr. Jessica Scott, social worker Gessie Stearns, Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk and undergraduate health sciences student Suraj Bansal.

"We are aware of news reports indicating multiple overdose deaths in [shelters] from late October 2022 to present, not all of which fall within the reporting period of the data released today," their release said.

"In line with the stated aims of the National Housing Strategy and in consideration of the Human Rights Code, our streets, shelters, hospitals, and jails need to be more than emergency holding zones where people are moved around and continuously told to wait for an elusive better… . More than anything, our data reflects the urgency to address the deprivation created through profit over human life."

All 22 people who died were men

Among the people whose deaths are represented in the group's latest findings, the average age of the people who died was 43 – just over half the overall population's life expectancy – and all of them were men. 

More than 80 per cent had been without somewhere to live for more than a year, and 12 of the 22 who died were most recently living unsheltered, while eight were in a shelter.

The worst month for deaths among the six months reported was September, followed by October. Many of those who died had been living with mental health issues or substance use disorders. In the month before their death, five of the men counted here were seen by an emergency department, while four were restricted from using a shelter.

"These numbers, each representative of a human life, highlight the critical importance of obtaining and providing permanent, affordable housing with full access to tenant legal protections for ensuring equitable health and safety for members of our community," the group said. 

"We also continue to see the harms of toxic drug policies reflected in the high number of overdose or drug poisoning deaths. Locally, examples of shelter-based harm reduction already exist, and the knowledge and expertise needed to prioritize and implement overdose prevention services directly within shelters is available."

Advocates say more safe consumption sites needed

The last time the researchers released data, in October, Berditchevskaia told CBC Hamilton that the city's slow movement on building places where people can use drugs safely was causing further harm.

"There was a needs assessment a few years back that showed that Hamilton needs more supervised and safe consumption sites and things are moving extremely slowly in terms of that," Berditchevskaia told CBC Hamilton at the time. "It's really not a stretch to say that homelessness in and of itself kills, because these people are dying just so much earlier than other Hamiltonians."

Council voted on Feb. 22 to support an application by The AIDS Network to the Ministry of Health for a Consumption and Treatment Services site at 746 Barton St. E., which would be the city's second site. 

According to the City of Hamilton's Housing and Homelessness Dashboard, as of February, there were over 1,465 people experiencing homelessness. That is 65 more than in October, at the time of the last homeless deaths data release.

The dashboard says 345 people have been housed over the past 12 months, and that the shelter capacity is 328 beds and 62 rooms for families.