Emergency homeless shelters are helping to improve public saftey in Vancouver, according to the Downtown Business Association, which is advocating for them to stay open year round.
Panhandlers know they are not popular with business owners when they beg for change outside of stores.
"I imagine it would cause a lot of grief -- especially if you're not clean," said Sonny, a homeless man.
But according to the Downtown Business Association, which compared monthly incidents from September to December, panhandling is down by 59 per cent and trespassing is down by 88 per cent.
"What we've seen is a steady decline in a variety of industries such as aggressive panhandling, panhandling, trespassing," said Charles Gauthier, DBA spokesman.
Gauthier says the reason for the decline is because of the seven existing heat and emergency winter shelters, both of which receive provincial government funding.
The government said that the shelters will close after the winter season, something Gauthier disagrees with.
"There's a year-round need for the shelters," he said.
But Mayor Gregor Robertson is focusing on the bigger picture.
"They are not the permanent solution here," he said. "The permanent solution is housing."
With some of the province's subsidized housing units becoming available next week, the hope is that less people will need to use shelters and rely on panhandling.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan
