A national study showing London has a relatively high number of shelter beds reflects the city’s past, not its future, says the city’s manager of homelessness prevention.

“It shows what we did in London in regard to homelessness 20 years ago,” Jan Richardson said, “In London, for many years, we relied on shelters to be our main response.”

The national study from University of Calgary researchers examined need for homeless shelters across Canada, outlining factors leading to higher numbers and ways to reduce the need.

Included in the report is a comparison of shelter bed numbers in 51 Canadian cities in 2011.

With an adult population the same as Waterloo Region, the London region, including St. Thomas, had twice as many shelter beds.

Looking at the statistics another way, the Hamilton region had roughly twice the number of people over 15 and about the same number of shelter beds.

Since 2011, the number of shelter beds in London alone has dropped to 320, Richardson said.

Equally important is a drop in the number of unique visitors over the same period, from 3,400 to 2,670, or 21 per cent, she said.

London has focused in recent years on moving chronic shelter users into their own homes. Those efforts have included programs for specific populations, like homeless veterans.

About a quarter of adults in London shelters stay fewer than five days and another quarter stay six to 25 days, Richardson said. “A crisis has happened, they are seeking an immediate place of safety, meals too, and the time to recover.”

Shelter beds will always be needed for those short-term clients, but London will continue to work on helping the other half – chronic users who’d be better off in their own homes with lots of support, Richardson said.

The short-term shelter bed users are the focus of the national study by Ron Kneebone, a professor at The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, and Margarita Wilkins, a research associate the school.

“They are in shelters because they have exhausted all other options,” Kneebone said in an interview.

Shelter beds by the numbers

London region: 395,972 people over age 15, 385 shelter beds

Waterloo region: 390,794 people, 159 shelter beds

Hamilton region: 601,358 people, 338 shelter beds