Counting the Uncounted: What Winnipeg's Point-in-Time Street Censuses Reveal About a Deepening Housing Crisis

<jats:p>This paper examines Winnipeg’s five Point-in-Time Street Censuses, conducted between 2015 and 2024. While the censuses provide a robust evidence base, municipal and provincial responses have consistently failed to match what the data demands. The 2024 count recorded 2,469 people experiencing homelessness, the highest figure in the survey’s history, yet the true number is almost certainly higher given documented methodological limits. The paper traces demographic trends, critiques undercounting, and evaluates government responses, arguing that structural investment in affordable housing supply, Indigenous-led supports, and institutional discharge planning is essential to reversing Winnipeg’s deepening housing crisis.</jats:p>