Every three years, a count of the number of people who are experiencing homelessness is completed in Metro Vancouver. Earlier this year, the Metro Vancouver Regional District released a preliminary count of the number of people who are experiencing homelessness. The final report has been recently released. 3,605 people in our region were found to be experiencing homelessness. 2,573 people were sheltered, staying in shelters, transition housing, safe houses, hospitals, jails, and detox facilities. The remaining 1,032 people were living outside or couch surfing.
This number isn’t exact as some people could be missed in the count including people who are couch surfing. This is a point-in-time count, so the number of people could fluctuate over the years.
The following infographic shows the state of homelessness in our region.
 |
| 2017 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver Infographic: Count and Demographics. Select image to enlarge. |
 |
| 2017 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver Infographic: Barriers. Select image to enlarge. |
There has been a 30% increase in homelessness in our region. There is a large number of youth and seniors who are experiencing homelessness as well.
 |
| Total Sheltered and Unsheltered Respondents (2005 to 2017) - Trends |
With the increase in homelessness, some people think that the majority of people are coming to their community from other places. Of people who are unsheltered, 85% have lived in the municipality where they were counted for over a year. 67% have lived in the same municipality for more than five years.
The following table shows where people who are experiencing homelessness were located at the time of the survey.
 |
| Total Respondents by Municipal Sub-Region (2017) |
Langley, which includes both the City and the Township, has the third highest population of people who are experiencing homelessness.
As shown in the following table, the increase in people who are experiencing homelessness has hit some communities harder than others. For example, homelessness has increase 124% in Langley. Interestingly, homelessness has decreased in the North Shore by 16%.
 |
| Total Number of People who are Homeless by Municipal Sub-Region (2005 to 2017) - Trends |
As I posted about previously, reducing homelessness in our region will take a coordinated approach by local governments, the province, and the federal government.
No comments:
Post a Comment