B.C.'s housing minister has reaffirmed plans to open three new homeless shelters in Vancouver in the coming weeks but is refusing to fund the emergency shelters the city keeps asking for.

Rich Coleman's statement came in response to news that the Downtown Eastside's First United Church closed doors to some homeless people for a second night in a row Thursday evening because it was over-capacity.

The First United shelter can hold up to 240 people but the facility was forced to turn 27 homeless back to the streets Wednesday evening and another dozen Thursday.

The province says that a lack of shelter space is not the problem.

"I can assure you even today that if there is a person on the streets in Vancouver that needs a bed tonight, there's a bed," said Coleman, blaming the mismanagement of shelters instead.

Coleman said First United has not been asking its visitors an essential question -- whether they have a home -- and suggested 30 per cent of its guests actually have a place to sleep.

"We believe that if we are going to fund a bed, we shouldn't fund it twice," Coleman said.

Mayor Gregor Robertson has been calling on the province to reinstate funding for cold-weather shelters, which could provide up to 160 more beds.

"It's hard to believe that the B.C. government won't step forward given the weather we're facing and the obvious problem we now have being over-capacity with the shelter system," Robertson said Thursday.

But one bed in the city's emergency HEAT shelters last year cost the province approximately $3,000 a month, Coleman said, adding that the shelters were plagued with alcohol and drug issues.

He sees the province's temporary and permanent housing as a solution which will cut costs by up to 60 per cent and help the homeless get back on their feet for the long-term.

"I know this is the most aggressive housing strategy in Canada," said Coleman of B.C.'s $20-million annual spending towards 1,300 shelter beds in Vancouver.

With two additional buildings scheduled to open within two weeks on Howe Street and Mt. St. Joseph's, and another soon after at Marble Arch, Coleman said the province is doing its part in meeting the city's demand for beds.

"What we haven't done is go out and beat our chest about all the great things we've been doing," he said.