Last time I visited Toronto I was shocked by the amount of not just homeless people but loud and disruptive or mentally ill homeless people. I remember hearing a blood curdling scream coming from a crowd. I ran over to look, it was just this homeless man screaming at the top of his lungs as people walked past him.

My friend told me it didn't used to be this bad (we've known each other for years and he used to complain about how many homeless people there were in American cities when he visited me), but the population, at least from his perspective, seems to have surged in recent years. At the time he blamed COVID, which I am sure had an effect, but I had no idea how bad affordable housing had gotten in that country (although maybe I should have noticed since he always gripes about making STEM money and not being able to afford to live alone in Toronto).

I remember something he said once that has really stuck with me. Last time I visited he told me the homeless used to be the fringes of society that fells through the social safety net. But now in Toronto they seem to be a class all their own.