Survey results: Point-in-Time count

A Point-in-Time (PiT) Count is a one-day snapshot of homelessness in the community.

City staff and community partners work together to survey people experiencing homelessness in Ottawa. So far, the City has led two counts:
  • April 2018
  • October 2021
  • Oct 2024
The survey is conducted to gather information about people experiencing homelessness. The goal of this work is to guide new approaches to address homelessness at a local level and help in the planning and delivery of services.

Date created: 28 April 2022
Update frequency: As needed.

Accuracy:  Convenience sampling was used to recruit survey respondents. This method of recruiting respondents to answer the survey does not rely on a random selection process. Instead, surveyors approach potential respondents if they are close by at the time the surveyor is delivering the questionnaire. Many factors could determine participation in the survey including:
  • Number of community partners involved in the PiT count
  • Location of surveyors and their physical proximity to potential respondents
  • Number of engagement events
  • Season the survey was conducted
Differences in results between PiT count years may be due to changes within the homeless population and shifts in methodology. For comparisons of emergency shelter use over time, visit the Temporary Emergency Accommodations Dashboard. 
An analysis of factors related to housing and homelessness during COVID-19 provides context for unique housing market conditions during the pandemic.
Results shown in the Survey results: Point-in-Time count dashboard are presented by sector. The name and definition of each sector are below:
  • All: All respondents who answered the survey
  • Single adult: Respondents aged 25 years or older and not accompanied by anyone
  • Unaccompanied youth: Respondents under 25 years old and not accompanied by anyone
  • Family: Respondents accompanied by children under 18 years old
Attributes:
  • Question: The question that was asked in the survey
  • Topic: The classification of the survey question by them
  • Sector: Refers to the population (total, family, unaccompanied youth, single adults)
  • Period: Month the Point-in-Time count was conducted
  • Response: Response category of the survey question
  • Numerator
  • Denominator
  • Percentage 
Author: Housing Services
Author email: [email protected]

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Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated March 24, 2026, 20:40 (UTC)
Created March 24, 2026, 20:40 (UTC)
Domain / Topic
Domain or topic of the dataset being cataloged.
Title
Title for the Dataset.
Survey results: Point-in-Time count
Description
A description of the dataset.

A Point-in-Time (PiT) Count is a one-day snapshot of homelessness in the community.

City staff and community partners work together to survey people experiencing homelessness in Ottawa. So far, the City has led two counts:
  • April 2018
  • October 2021
  • Oct 2024
The survey is conducted to gather information about people experiencing homelessness. The goal of this work is to guide new approaches to address homelessness at a local level and help in the planning and delivery of services.

Date created: 28 April 2022
Update frequency: As needed.

Accuracy:  Convenience sampling was used to recruit survey respondents. This method of recruiting respondents to answer the survey does not rely on a random selection process. Instead, surveyors approach potential respondents if they are close by at the time the surveyor is delivering the questionnaire. Many factors could determine participation in the survey including:
  • Number of community partners involved in the PiT count
  • Location of surveyors and their physical proximity to potential respondents
  • Number of engagement events
  • Season the survey was conducted
Differences in results between PiT count years may be due to changes within the homeless population and shifts in methodology. For comparisons of emergency shelter use over time, visit the Temporary Emergency Accommodations Dashboard. 
An analysis of factors related to housing and homelessness during COVID-19 provides context for unique housing market conditions during the pandemic.
Results shown in the Survey results: Point-in-Time count dashboard are presented by sector. The name and definition of each sector are below:
  • All: All respondents who answered the survey
  • Single adult: Respondents aged 25 years or older and not accompanied by anyone
  • Unaccompanied youth: Respondents under 25 years old and not accompanied by anyone
  • Family: Respondents accompanied by children under 18 years old
Attributes:
  • Question: The question that was asked in the survey
  • Topic: The classification of the survey question by them
  • Sector: Refers to the population (total, family, unaccompanied youth, single adults)
  • Period: Month the Point-in-Time count was conducted
  • Response: Response category of the survey question
  • Numerator
  • Denominator
  • Percentage 
Author: Housing Services
Author email: [email protected]
Tags / Keywords
Keywords/tags categorizing the dataset.
Format (CSV, XLS, TXT, PDF, etc)
File format of the dataset.
Dataset Size
Dataset size in megabytes.
179.16
Metadata Identifier
Metadata identifier – can be used as the unique identifier for catalogue entry
Published Date
Published date of the dataset.
2022-04-28
Time Period Data Span (start date)
Start date of the data in the dataset.
Time Period Data Span (end date)
End date of time data in the dataset.
GeoSpatial Area Data Span
A spatial region or named place the dataset covers.
Field Value
Access category
Type of access granted for the dataset (open, closed, service, etc).
public
License
License used to access the dataset.
https://ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/get-know-your-city/open-data#open-data-licence-version-2-0
Limits on use
Limits on use of data.
Location
Location of the dataset.
https://od-dev2-ottawa.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/ottawa::survey-results-point-in-time-count
Data Service
Data service for accessing a dataset.
Owner
Owner of the dataset.
[email protected]
Contact Point
Who to contact regarding access?
City of Ottawa
Contact Point Email
The email to contact regarding access?
[email protected]
Publisher
Publisher of the dataset.
City of Ottawa
Publisher Email
Email of the publisher.
Author
Author of the dataset.
[email protected]
Author Email
Email of the author.
Accessed At
Date the data and metadata was accessed.
2025-02-07
Field Value
Identifier
Unique identifier for the dataset.
4c598271584a464a87ecb62c3e4f34ca
Language
Language(s) of the dataset
English
Link to dataset description
A URL to an external document describing the dataset.
https://od-dev2-ottawa.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/ottawa::survey-results-point-in-time-count
Persistent Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent identifier.
Globally Unique Identifier
Data is identified by a persistent and globally unique identifier.
Contains data about individuals
Does the data hold data about individuals?
Contains data about identifiable individuals
Does the data hold identifiable data about individual?
Contains Indigenous Data
Does the data hold data about Indigenous communities?
Portal Type
Platform type of the source portal.
Field Value
Version
Version of the datatset
None
Source
Source of the dataset.
None
Version notes
Version notes about the dataset.
Is version of another dataset
Link to dataset that it is a version of.
Other versions
Link to datasets that are versions of it.
Provenance Text
Provenance Text of the data.
City of Ottawa
Provenance URL
Provenance URL of the data.
Temporal resolution
Describes how granular the date/time data in the dataset is.
GeoSpatial resolution in meters
Describes how granular (in meters) geospatial data is in the dataset.
GeoSpatial resolution (in regions)
Describes how granular (in regions) geospatial data is in the dataset.
Field Value
Indigenous Community Permission
Who holds the Indigenous Community Permission. Who to contact regarding access to a dataset that has data about Indigenous communities.
Community Permission
Community permission (who gave permission).
The Indigenous communities the dataset is about
Indigenous communities from which data is derived.
Field Value
Number of data rows
If tabular dataset, total number of rows.
Number of data columns
If tabular dataset, total number of unique columns.
Number of data cells
If tabular dataset, total number of cells with data.
Number of data relations
If RDF dataset, total number of triples.
Number of entities
If RDF dataset, total number of entities.
Number of data properties
If RDF dataset, total number of unique properties used by the triples.
Data quality
Describes the quality of the data in the dataset.
Metric for data quality
A metric used to measure the quality of the data, such as missing values or invalid formats.

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