‘Absolutely horrific:’ The median age of death for unhoused women in Toronto is now 36

The Toronto Homeless Memorial remembers those who have died as a result of homelessness in Toronto. (Joanna Lavoie photo)

Unhoused women are dying younger than ever before in Toronto.

Recently released data for the first six months of 2024 from Toronto Public Health has found that the median age of death for women experiencing homelessness in the city is just 36.

In 2022, unhoused women who died in Toronto were on average 42 years old. That number was 43 in 2023.

The median age at death for men experiencing homelessness in the first half of 2024 was 50.

Torontonians residents, in general, live much longer with men typically dying at the age of 78 and women at the age of 85, according to 2022 data.

Acute drug toxicity was the leading cause of death in the first half of last year for just over half of all reported deaths in people experiencing homelessness.

Unknown or pending explanations made up the second leading cause of death at 26 per cent, while diseases like cancer, chronic alcohol use, pneumonia, and others were listed as the reason for seven per cent of unhoused deaths in the city during that time frame.

The data also showed that 30 per cent of homeless deaths from Jan. to June in 2024 happened outdoors, 23 per cent happened in shelters, and 15 per cent happened in hospitals or clinics.

Here is what a number of experts had to say about this data and how Toronto could reverse the alarming trend it is pointing to:

Dr. Naheed Dosani, palliative care physician at St Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

As a palliative care physician providing healthcare to people experiencing homelessness in shelters and on the streets, I am deeply troubled, but not surprised, by the finding that the median age of death for women experiencing homelessness in Toronto has dropped to 36.

Homelessness makes it incredibly difficult to maintain good health.

Time and time again, we see that people without stable housing face significant barriers to essential services, including healthcare, housing, food security, and other critical social determinants of health.

This new data is yet another stark reminder that health outcomes are inextricably linked to these social determinants.

In addition, the toxic drug supply crisis continues to have a devastating toll on many unhoused people who use drugs, particularly those who lack access to trauma-informed harm reduction services—services that could save lives if they were more widely available in the community.

Finally, we must do more to ensure that women experiencing homelessness have access to affordable, high-quality housing, emergency shelter supports, and the healthcare services they uniquely need.

Women often face additional risks and barriers compared to men. Addressing these systemic inequities is critical if we are to prevent more premature and preventable deaths.

Diana Chan McNally, long-time community outreach worker and advocate

These numbers are absolutely horrific and sadly they resonate with the experience of many of us on the front line, many of us are losing our friends.

I’ve lost a few clients in recent years, women under the age of 30. It’s a common experience and it speaks to the particular kind of violence women on the streets face. They’re especially vulnerable to sexual assault and sexual exploitation, which is leading to younger and younger deaths.

We sometimes see unhoused women who are taken and used, which can lead to an increase in drug use as they try to deal with the violence and trauma they’ve experienced.

I also sometimes see women who use drugs who aren’t injecting themselves, another person is, and that can also lead to overdose as they have a lack of control when it comes to the substances they’re using.

I think it’s clear that we have a major service gap for women in this situation, including a lack of emergency and affordable housing. We need more support for organizations and for women experiencing homelessness. We need real services for them in place. There aren’t a lot of women-specific services and this data is the result of that.

Dr. Stephen Hwang, general internist and researcher with the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital

The decrease in the median age of death among women experiencing homelessness is due to an increase in deaths due to acute drug toxicity (overdose), which tend to effect younger people. Overdose was the cause of death for 93 per cent of women age 20 to 39 and 100 per cent of women age 40 to 59.

Looking at deaths among people age 20 to 39, the proportion of people who died who were women went up substantially in 2024, to 36 per cent.

This means that more women are dying of overdoses than before.

It’s not clear what is causing this, but possibilities include an increase in drug use among women experiencing homelessness or use of drugs by women in more risky settings (i.e., where they are less likely to receive help in event of an overdose).

An essential part of the solution would be enhanced low-barrier access to both treatment and harm reduction options for people who use drugs. Unfortunately, I anticipate that the impending closure of supervised consumption sites will make this problem even worse over the coming year.

Siu Mee Cheng, executive director Street Haven, which has provided shelter and support to women since 1965

Those statistics reflect the profile of our shelter’s client profile.

Our clients are presenting as a younger cohort. Due to the homeless refugee crisis that we have been experiencing in Toronto, our client base has become a younger group as many of the refugees and claimants are younger than the homeless cohorts we have traditionally seen in the past.

Our refugee/claimant shelter residents up to the point of arriving at our shelter door, are new to the shelter system in Toronto and may have been in better health than those who have been chronically homeless in the past. (This is a generalization and does not reflect the refugees’/claimants’ experiences fleeing from their country of origin due to safety and gender-based violence issues.)

It’s important to note that shelter services must be both trauma-informed and gender-based. This means that for women-specific shelter services need to be resourced so that all of our clients have access to primary health care physicians/nurse practitioners wherein services not only include overall medical care but sexual and reproductive health, as well and public health.

In addition, it is extremely critical that women’s shelters are provided with access to psychiatric and psychotherapy services that are integrated with primary health care and addiction support services – harm reduction and treatment.

Stefania Seccia, executive director of advocacy and public affairs, Women’s National Housing and Homelessness Network

Women and transgender people experiencing homelessness in Toronto are dying at shocking rates, and at tragically young ages.

These deaths are not isolated tragedies—they are the result of systemic failures that disproportionately push women into homelessness and prevent them from accessing lifesaving supports. Women’s homelessness is distinct, often hidden, and deeply connected to gender-based violence, poverty, and a lack of safe housing options.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Laura Sebben