Number of people who are homeless in Metro Vancouver up 9 per cent in 2 years: report

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Metro Vancouver is climbing, according to preliminary data from the most recent homeless count. 

The count, which took place in mid-March this year, found that at least 5,232 individuals in the region are homeless, up nine per cent compared to 2023. 

Since point-in-time homeless counts started in 2005, the number of homeless people in Metro Vancouver has increased by 141 per cent, the report says. Earlier this year, Statistics Canada showed the population for the region now exceeds three million, compared to 2.1 million in 2005. 

"Homelessness is growing at a much faster rate than population growth in the region, and this indicates that shelter capacity is insufficient," said Lorraine Copas, chair of the Greater Vancouver Community Advisory Board for Reaching Home — one of the groups involved in the report — in a news release.

"We're releasing this high-level preliminary data now because it is incredibly valuable for organizations, support services, and policymakers to be aware of as they plan, fund and operationalize their programming."

The report looks at both sheltered and unsheltered people.

Sheltered people are those who, on the night of March 10, 2025, stayed in an emergency, temporary or extreme weather response shelter, a transition house, a hotel as a temporary situation, or a hospital, local holding cell or detox facility, but have no fixed address to return to.

Unsheltered people include people who, on that same night, slept in an encampment, alley, doorway, parkade, park or vehicle, someone else's couch, or, if there was a sex work transaction, a client's place.

The number of homeless people counted in the count rose in the City of Vancouver to a record high of 2,715, a 12 per cent increase from two years ago. Meanwhile, Delta and White Rock saw the biggest percentage increases, up by 70 and 53 per cent, respectively. 

Seniors make up about 22 per cent of unhoused people in Metro Vancouver, while youth under 25 make up about six per cent, the report shows.

Indigenous people make up a disproportionate number of those experiencing homelessness; 34 per cent of the more than 5,000 homeless individuals in Metro Vancouver identified as Indigenous, while Indigenous people make up only 2.4 per cent of the population in the region, according to Statistics Canada. 

David Wells, chair of the Indigenous Homelessness Steering Committee for Greater Vancouver, said in a statement to The Canadian Press that the report's findings are a call for "governments at all levels to prioritize homelessness prevention."

Wells also says the numbers put the issue of Indigenous homelessness in the spotlight, as 54 per cent of the Indigenous respondents to the survey said they were unsheltered — living outdoors without protection — versus 42 per cent of non-Indigenous respondents who were in the same situation.