Site characteristics*
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Type of site, no. (%)† | |
| Shelter | 26 (81.3) |
| Rooming house | 1 (3.1) |
| Drop-in centre | 1 (3.1) |
| Other‡ | 9 (28.1) |
| Site specialty, no. (%)† | |
| Women | 8 (25.0) |
| Refugees | 4 (12.5) |
| Low-barrier§ | 3 (9.4) |
| Other¶ | 19 (59.4) |
| None reported | 2 (6.3) |
| Resident and staff numbers and capacity, median (range) | |
| Resident capacity before COVID-19 | 70 (0–300) |
| Resident capacity since COVID-19 | 36 (0–300) |
| Current number of residents | 36 (0–300) |
| Number of staff before COVID-19 | 25 (0–129) |
| Number of staff since COVID-19 | 24.5 (1–200) |
| Room occupancy type for residents, no. (%) | |
| Shared rooms** | 16 (50.0) |
| Single rooms | 12 (37.5) |
| Non-sleeping facility | 4 (12.5) |
| IPC measures in place, no. (%) | |
| Had IPC policies before COVID-19 | 20 (62.5) |
| Changed IPC policies since COVID-19 | 25 (78.1) |
| Had adequate hand sanitizer, soap, tissues, lined garbage cans and no-touch garbage cans at the time of the needs assessment | 25 (78.1) |
| Had adequate supplies of PPE at the time of needs assessment | 20 (62.5) |
Note: IPC = infection prevention and control, PPE = personal protective equipment.
↵* For the first 32 sites supported by the COVID-19 Community Response Team.
↵† Respondents could select all that applied.
↵‡ Other types: respite, supportive housing, mixed-model housing, recovery centre for homeless and underhoused individuals, support service teams (i.e., mobile outreach) and satellite for physical distancing.
↵§ Low-barrier facilities work to remove as many “exclusion criteria” to entry as possible and seek to support the needs and realities of any individual seeking shelter.
↵¶ Other specialties: pet-friendly, human reduction, violence against women, co-ed, men only, long-term stay, high-needs individuals and intake facilities.
↵** Ongoing use of shared rooms depended on the site (i.e., dormitory-style shelters continued to use shared rooms, but shelters with the ability to convert to single rooms had done so to optimize physical distancing).