Results overview

The data presented in this “Results” section are drawn from coroner reports (2020-2024) concerning the deaths of people experiencing homelessness in Quebec. While these data are essential for understanding mortality among people experiencing homelessness, they do not, on their own, fully reflect the true extent of this phenomenon in Quebec.

Here are two important limitations of the sample:

1) Not all deaths are investigated by the coroner’s office. Only cases subject to a coroner’s investigation are documented. According to Section 8 of the Act to Determine the Causes and Circumstances of Deaths (RLRQ c. R-0.2), these cases are limited to violent or unexplained deaths, sudden deaths, deaths from an unknown cause, or deaths that occurred under suspicious or unnatural circumstances, where the person had not recently been seen by a physician.

2) Possible classification errors in coroner’s reports may occur when the person is not identified as being homeless

Furthermore, it is important to note that this initial analysis does not include deaths among individuals living in rooming houses or those who are housed after having experienced homelessness in an institution. These cases will be the subject of a separate, second analysis and will be incorporated into the results at a later date.

It is important to recognize that some deaths will remain unrecorded and that the number of deaths recorded cannot accurately reflect the true extent of the situation. Nevertheless, the results obtained are still significant. Furthermore, the information collected through the reporting form for deaths among people experiencing homelessness will help mitigate this limitation and provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of mortality among people experiencing homelessness in Quebec.

More results to come.