Archived Content. Information in this document should be used for reference only. A new version of the Guide to Point-in-Time Counts will be coming soon.

This guide was developed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). It is intended to provide guidelines to communities that wish to align with the Canadian Coordinated Point-in-Time (PiT) Count. It includes the standards for participation, the Core Screening and Survey questions that are used across participating communities, as well as guidelines for implementing a PiT count.

The guidelines in this document were developed through a review of PiT count practices used across Canada and internationally, and with input from communities, including the PiT Count Working Group. It builds on the existing work on PiT counts by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the United States.

In this updated edition 3.1 of the Guide, the Core Standards, Core Screening and Survey Questions and guidelines have all been updated based on feedback from communities that participated in the 2018 Coordinated PiT Count, as well as the National Homelessness Data Advisory Committee.

This version also includes additional proposed modifications and considerations due to the COVID-19 pandemic designed to provide communities with greater flexibility should they choose to implement the counts during this difficult time. The full set of proposed modifications can be found in APPENDIX A. As well, modifications and considerations related to COVID-19 are highlighted in boxes like this one throughout this guide.