Homelessness in Barrie
The numbers on this page count people in acute hardship, and every one of them is an undercount of something. They are here because the encampment response is a live election issue, and an argument conducted without the City's own figures is worse than one conducted with them.
The frame around everything below: on September 9, 2025, Mayor Alex Nuttall declared a State of Emergency to address encampments. It remained in effect as of this page's last check of the City's site on August 18, 2026; the City's alert banner showed it last updated February 12, 2026. Ontario court decisions referenced on the City's own page emphasize that municipalities must ensure adequate and accessible shelter exists before encampments are cleared.
People
How this is counted. Compiled from the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System (HIFIS) by the City and the County of Simcoe. The City's own caveats, quoted: daily fluctuations limit the count's ability to capture the full scope; data fluctuates with data-entry timing and seasonal factors; and increases can reflect expanded reporting of people accessing services, not only more people. Every count of people undercounts. This is City of Barrie / County of Simcoe (HIFIS)’s definition.
| Period | People |
|---|---|
| August 4, 2026 | 705 |
Source: Creating Safer Spaces: Barrie's Coordinated Approach to Addressing Homelessness & Encampments, City of Barrie. Original document. The City's own operational page, and the primary source for: the State of Emergency declared September 9, 2025 (still in effect); 705 individuals identifying as homeless per HIFIS data as of 2026-08-04; two known encampments on municipally-owned land as of 2026-08-14; 209 encampments "addressed" between the declaration and 2026-08-14; and both encampment definitions verbatim. A live page the City updates on a rolling basis, so the cumulative "addressed" figure changes scope partway through 2026 (see the comparability_note on that indicator series) — figures cite the retrieval date, and the page must be re-captured before any update. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
Encampments
How this is counted. The City classifies an encampment as one tent or structure on a property. The County of Simcoe defines an encampment as outdoor structures actively used overnight by two or more individuals experiencing homelessness — so a County figure for the same week is a different measure and never shares an axis with this one. This is City of Barrie’s definition.
| Period | Structures |
|---|---|
| August 14, 2026 | 2 |
Source: Creating Safer Spaces: Barrie's Coordinated Approach to Addressing Homelessness & Encampments, City of Barrie. Original document. The City's own operational page, and the primary source for: the State of Emergency declared September 9, 2025 (still in effect); 705 individuals identifying as homeless per HIFIS data as of 2026-08-04; two known encampments on municipally-owned land as of 2026-08-14; 209 encampments "addressed" between the declaration and 2026-08-14; and both encampment definitions verbatim. A live page the City updates on a rolling basis, so the cumulative "addressed" figure changes scope partway through 2026 (see the comparability_note on that indicator series) — figures cite the retrieval date, and the page must be re-captured before any update. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
How this is counted. A cumulative operational count since the September 9, 2025 State of Emergency. "Addressed" is the City's word and covers coordinated outreach, sites identified as abandoned, and locations where clean-up is required or in progress — it is not a count of people housed. This is City of Barrie’s definition.
| Period | Structures |
|---|---|
| September 9, 2025 – August 14, 20261 measure changed | 209 |
- 1 The City's cumulative count changed scope partway through 2026: figures through April 2026 count sites addressed on City-owned property only; from May 2026 the City states the figure covers both City-owned and private property. This single snapshot is on the later, broader basis. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.
Source: Creating Safer Spaces: Barrie's Coordinated Approach to Addressing Homelessness & Encampments, City of Barrie. Original document. The City's own operational page, and the primary source for: the State of Emergency declared September 9, 2025 (still in effect); 705 individuals identifying as homeless per HIFIS data as of 2026-08-04; two known encampments on municipally-owned land as of 2026-08-14; 209 encampments "addressed" between the declaration and 2026-08-14; and both encampment definitions verbatim. A live page the City updates on a rolling basis, so the cumulative "addressed" figure changes scope partway through 2026 (see the comparability_note on that indicator series) — figures cite the retrieval date, and the page must be re-captured before any update. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
These figures are snapshots from the City's operational page on the retrieval date shown, and that page changes as the response continues. The County of Simcoe publishes its own dashboards ("Homeless Individuals in Simcoe County" and "Shelter System Flow"), embedded as Power BI reports on its data portal; their figures use the County's definitions and a County-wide geography, and are not comparable row-for-row with the City numbers above.
The County's own count, over time
The one genuine multi-year series available is the County of Simcoe's Point-in-Time count, held every two years across the whole County service area — Barrie, Orillia and the towns — not the City alone. It is the only way to see a trend rather than a snapshot, and the County's own report warns against reading too much into it: a change in canvassing effort or in what data sources feed the count can look exactly like a change in how many people are unhoused.
How this is counted. A one-night, in-person enumeration held every two years across the whole County service-manager area, not the City of Barrie alone, and not directly comparable to the City's live HIFIS figure above. The County's own 2024 report warns that changes in methodology and canvassing effort between counts can look like a real trend when it is partly a measurement change — the sharp 2022→2024 rise is attributed partly to improved canvassing and to newly-added healthcare administrative data, not only to more people being unhoused. The 2016 figure is analysed survey responses from a voluntary "Registry Week," a different method than the in-person counts from 2018 on, and is the least comparable point in the series. This is County of Simcoe’s definition.
| Period | People |
|---|---|
| January 13, 20161 measure changed | 292 |
| April 24, 20182 measure changed | 697 |
| November 17, 2020 | 563 |
| January 25, 2022 | 722 |
| October 8, 20243 measure changed | 1,080 |
- 1 Registry Week survey responses, not an in-person count — the least comparable point in this series. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.
- 2 First combined Point-in-Time count and Registry Week. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.
- 3 The County attributes part of this rise to improved canvassing and newly-added healthcare administrative data, not only to more people being unhoused. Figures on either side of this point are not directly comparable.
Source: Everyone Counts 2024: Insights from Simcoe County's Homelessness Enumeration, County of Simcoe, dated April 1, 2025. Original document. The County's own five-point Point-in-Time series (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024), County-wide including Barrie and Orillia — not the City of Barrie alone, and not on the same basis as the City's live HIFIS figure elsewhere on this site. The report itself warns that "changes in methodology, data collection processes, and definitions of homelessness over time can influence the results, making direct comparisons potentially misleading." The 2016 figure is Registry Week survey responses, a different method than the in-person counts from 2018 on. Retrieved August 18, 2026.
The County attributes much of the 2022→2024 rise to improved canvassing and to newly-added healthcare administrative data, not only to more people being unhoused. The 2016 figure is survey responses from a voluntary "Registry Week," a different method than the in-person counts that follow it, and is the least comparable point in the table above.
Common questions
How many homeless people are in Barrie?
The counts on this page are the City's own operational figures, and every one is an undercount of something; the City and the County of Simcoe also count on different definitions and geographies, so their figures are not comparable row-for-row. The tables above carry the City's numbers with their retrieval dates.
Is Barrie under a state of emergency over encampments?
Mayor Alex Nuttall declared a State of Emergency to address encampments on September 9, 2025, and it remained in effect as of this page's last check of the City's site. See the encampments issue page for who is responsible for what.