The new coordinator for the Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group is leading the homeless count in the region today, March 11.
Jeremy Johnson, who started with the group in mid-January to replace Polly Krier, is overseeing the Tri-City component of the 2025 Greater Vancouver Point-in-Time count that includes staff from the Progressive Housing Society, which runs the Tri-Cities Winter Shelter program at churches.
Employees with Hope For Freedom, CityReach and Fraser Health are also involved in the Tri-Cities count, among others.
Running in 16 communities from West Vancouver to Langley, the Metro Vancouver count identifies who is without a home, why and for how long; it also designed to collect data about an individual’s age, gender, culture, health status and income sources, and find homelessness trends.
The information is used to form future social policies.
Do you know someone who is without a home, or who is hiding their homelessness by living with friends temporarily or living in vehicles or boats? Call 236-330-9233 anonymously to ensure they are counted in the survey.
“We know that homelessness is often pushed into the shadows, making it invisible in many cases, and we’re really trying to connect with individuals who may be beyond our touchpoints,” said David Wells, chairperson of the Indigenous Homelessness Steering Committee for Greater Vancouver, in a news release.
Funded by Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy, the count is being steered by the Homelessness Services Association of BC and Infocus Management Consulting Ltd.
The results will be made public this fall or winter.
The most recent count, in 2023, identified more than 4,800 people in Metro Vancouver without a fixed address — a 32 per cent bump over the 2020 poll — largely due to the inability to pay for housing.
In the Tri-Cities, the 2023 count revealed the number of people in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody experiencing homelessness had shot up in four years.
The local figures showed 160 people in the Tri-Cities were homeless — 62 unsheltered and 98 sheltered — up from 86 people in 2020, a rise of 74 people.
By comparison, the 2023 count in other Metro jurisdictions also saw homelessness jumps:
- Burnaby
- 209 in 2023
- 124 in 2020
- Delta
- 44 in 2023
- 17 in 2020
- White Rock
- 17 in 2023
- 16 in 2020
- Langley
- 235 in 2023
- 209 in 2020
- New Westminster
- 203 in 2023
- 123 in 2020
- North Shore
- 168 in 2023
- ◦121 in 2020
- Richmond
- 162 in 2023
- 85 in 2020
- Ridge Meadows
- 135 in 2023
- 114 in 2020
- Surrey
- 1,060 in 2023
- 644 in 2020
- Vancouver
- 2,420 in 2023
- 2,095 in 2020
- University Endowment Lands
- Eight (8) in 2023
- n/a in 2020
According to the 2023 count report for Metro Vancouver, 70 per cent were adults while 22 per cent were seniors (ages 55 and older).
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