The City of Saskatoon announced it will not carry out this year’s in‑person point‑in‑time (PiT) count of people experiencing homelessness. The count had been set for Tuesday and would have involved volunteers visiting streets and encampments to record who was unsheltered.

Around 250 volunteers had been trained for the count, but the city halted the plan because of safety worries.

The city said the cancellation was due to “safety concerns related to potential protest activity which may affect the safety of volunteers, staff and community partners participating in the count.”

The fire department had planned to clear a west‑side encampment of more than 100 residents, but protests from those living there and their supporters forced the department to pause the removal.

Advocate David Fineday, who lives in the encampment, called the cancellation “a kick in the head” and said it sent a negative message to people experiencing homelessness. He noted that a court injunction to stop the fire department’s removal was rejected by a judge.

Lesley Anderson, the city’s director of planning and development, said “the safety of volunteers, community partners, staff and people experiencing homelessness must come first.” She added that the city will work with the fire department to estimate the number of people living in encampments and will still count those in shelters and transitional housing.

The 2025 PiT count recorded 1,931 homeless people in Saskatoon. Because the 2026 count will lack direct data from unsheltered individuals, a more comprehensive enumeration and survey is planned for 2027.