The homeless population in Vancouver is holding steady, according to the city's annual head count, but the number living without shelter on the street has nearly doubled.
The results were delivered in a report to city council on Tuesday, and point to an increase from 152 unsheltered homeless people in 2011 up to 306 in 2012.
Mayor Gregor Robertson responded to the striking shift by calling on the B.C. and federal governments to help prevent "an alarmingly higher number" of homeless people from being forced to sleep outdoors.
"We need significantly more provincial support for stable low-barrier shelter beds and permanent supportive housing," Robertson said in a press release.
There are 74 fewer low-barrier shelter spaces this year than last, according to the report, and another 400 are scheduled to close in 2013 at the Dunsmuir, Bosmon and Scattered Sites projects.
Officials estimate the number of unsheltered homeless will take a massive jump up to 1,128 the following year if nothing is done to provide additional space.
Measures such as increasing supportive housing units, making hundreds of temporary shelter beds permanent and maintaining current shelter space could create an equally dramatic shift in the other direction, the report estimates.
This year's count, which is conducted by volunteers, found the overall number of homeless people in Vancouver increased by just 21 people over the past year, from 1,591 in 2011 to 1,602 in 2012.
The numbers represent a 6.6-per-cent decrease since 2010, when 1,715 residents were considered homeless.
Three-quarters of the current homeless population are men, and one-third identified as aboriginal. Forty-two per cent were over the age of 45.
A regional homeless count is conducted every three years, but Vancouver has performed its own annually since 2010.
To read the full 2012 report, visit the City of Vancouver website.
