The Uprise of Homelessness in Vancouver

Homelessness has always been a problem in Vancouver, and any city for that matter, but
Something is changing.

On March 7 and 8 the Homelessness Services of B.C. Surveyed to figure out how many
homeless people there are as well as their gender race, sexuality and other important facts.
Homelessness in metro Vancouver is up 32% since 2020 with 4,821 people having no home or a
temporary roof above their head. Even though Indigenous people only make up 2.4% of Metro
Vancouver’s population, they make up over 30 percent of all the homeless people counted.
12% were identified as being in the pride community. Two-thirds were male, although it is hard
to get an exact estimate as homeless women are harder to locate. The same goes for homeless
people in the Pride community; 282 homeless people in the Pride community were counted,
but there is a larger hidden homeless population. One in five people was over the age of 55.

One of the main reasons why there is this uprise is because of the inflation of prices.
During the survey, one third said they were homeless because they did not have enough
income. Other people said they were homeless because of substance use and mental health.
Across B.C. there is an estimated 23,000 people that have experienced homelessness. The B.C.
government is acting but to quote B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, though, said the
provincial government is “clearly not responding fast enough to address homelessness
when we see the kind of increase, we’re seeing.”

I think that this is a very pressing issue and that the provincial government needs to take
action. As Vancouver grows it becomes more important that every one has a home to call
theirs. The government NEEDS to take action now because we don’t need it in five years, we
need it now.