Housing & Homelessness in BC

Metro Vancouver Homeless Count 2008

More than 600 volunteers helped conduct the 2008 regional homeless count, which found 2,592 people living without homes in Metro Vancouver. It was found that street homelessness rose in every community within the region, with Vancouver and Surrey bearing the biggest numbers and burden of trying to provide services. The numbers are quite likely a lot lower, as individuals who were couch surfing, or in hard to reach places were not counted. The count also found that the number of people without a home in Vancouver increased by 19 percent since 2005.

Housing & Support for Adults with Severe Addictions and/or Mental Illness in British Columbia a research study was released by researchers from Simon Fraser University, University of BC and University of Calgary in January 2008. The researchers used a number of different reports, statistical information and other sources to estimate that there are between 8,000 and 15,500 individuals who are "absolutely homeless," meaning they are living on the streets, couch surfing or otherwise without shelter. The report states that in BC, there are approximately 130,000 adults with severe addictions and/or mental illnesses and about 39,000 are "inadequately housed” which means their core housing needs are not being met. The issues and impacts are experienced in urban, suburban and rural areas around BC. The fastest rising at-risk groups are women, youth and refugees.

For more information see:
Metro Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness.

UBC students set to highlight Vancouver housing problems to UN. Georgia Straight.

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Complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council About Homelessness

A collaboration of parties including Michael Byers, a University of British Columbia professor, and two of his students, Mike Powar and Gayle Stewart, initiated the complaint with Pivot Legal Society, the Carnegie Community Action Project and Impact on Communities Coalition joining in to file a complaint with the UN Human Rights Council over housing impacts of the 2010 Olympics. They claim the Canadian government has failed to protect low-income tenants on the downtown eastside. They are failing to ensure minimum health and safety standards in single-room-occupancy buildings (SRO’s) and failing to provide police protection for tenants who are illegally evicted. They say Canada is breaching its’ commitment to UN protocol agreements on human rights to adequate housing.

Since 2003, more than 1,300 single-resident rooms in the Downtown Eastside have been closed since the Games were awarded to Vancouver. Community workers, activists and members fear there will be many more people evicted, often becoming homeless as the province leads up to the Olympics. In October 2007 the Miloon Kothari, the UN Special Rapporteur for Housing came to view the devastation of the Downtown Eastside . He reported “On this mission, I heard of hundreds of people who have died as a result of Canada’s nationwide housing crisis,” Kothari stated in his preliminary report. “In its most recent periodic review of Canada’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the United Nations used strong language to label housing and homelessness and inadequate housing as a ‘national emergency’.”