349 people died homeless in Edmonton last year
At the 21st annual memorial, advocates called for more shelter space and safe injection sites to address the crisis.
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Three hundred forty-nine people died while experiencing homelessness in Edmonton in 2025 — a stark reminder of how the city's housing crisis has deepened since 2006, when the memorial began tracking deaths.
At Thursday's 21st annual Homeless Memorial at the Homeless Memorial Plaza, mourners laid roses and heard from people who'd survived the streets themselves. Nadine Chalifoux, who spent two years homeless after a hospital release left her without income or affordable housing options, spoke about the community that kept her alive. "A lot of caring people in the homeless community showed me where to sleep, how to keep warm in winter, places to find food," she said. "If it weren't for them I wouldn't have survived."
The numbers are staggering. At least 2,566 people have died on Edmonton's streets since 2006 — 1,665 of them in just the last five years. This past winter alone, Alberta Health Services treated 692 unhoused Albertans for frostbite.
Quinn Strikwerda, co-chair of Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, said the deaths stem from multiple causes: the drug supply, lack of day-use shelter space, and critically, the shortage of safe, affordable social housing. He called on the province to stop closing safe injection sites, where drugs can be tested and people monitored. "It's the same with day-use spaces. If people are scattered and camping, it's difficult to access services or for staff to establish a relationship," he said.
As of May 10, Homeward Trust Edmonton identified 3,795 people living with homelessness in the city. The memorial serves as both remembrance and a signal that the crisis keeps accelerating — not slowing down.