Advocates anticipate this year's Metro Vancouver Homeless Count will be higher than previous years'
Advocates are predicting this year's Metro Vancouver Homeless Count will be higher than previous years' due to lingering impacts from the pandemic, job losses and inflation.
Rachael Allen, a spokesperson for Union Gospel Mission, says based on what the organization is hearing anecdotally about food and housing insecurity, she’s predicting there will be more people experiencing homelessness once the results from the count are published.
Allen said UGM can’t keep up with demand for shelter space.
“All of last year in 2022, we were nearly at full capacity almost every single night and on average, we had to turn away about six people every single night because we didn’t have space for them,” she told CTV News.
Stephen D’Souza, the executive director of Homeless Services Association of B.C. said his group is also anticipating a larger number of unhoused people.
“Despite a lot of work being done by local governments, provincial governments and federal governments, it really hasn’t met the need in the community,” he said.
The association will be leading this year’s count, which is set to occur March 8. The last count was done in 2020, prior to the pandemic, and showed 3,634 people experiencing homelessness in Metro Vancouver, with Black and Indigenous people overrepresented relative to their share of the general population.
The Homeless Count provides a 24-hour snapshot of homelessness, and both Allen and D’Souza are aware it doesn’t provide an accurate picture of the crisis. The count often fails to take into account the region’s hidden homeless population, which can include youth, trans people, and women fleeing abuse.
“Oftentimes, they’re in situations where they’re maybe couch-surfing or sleeping in their car or in other hidden ways that make it difficult to connect with them,” Allen said.
In addition to recording how many people are experiencing homelessness, a survey is also conducted to record demographic information such as health and race-based data. Allen said 2020 was the first time the count recorded racial data.
D’Souza said the association is currently looking to recruit up to 1,200 volunteers to take part in the initiative. Once the count is completed, he said results will likely be published by late summer or early fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.