Metro Vancouver’s homeless count up 32 per cent from 2020

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This year’s homeless count in Metro Vancouver has found a 32 per cent increase in the number of residents without a home since 2020.

The count, conducted by the Homelessness Services Association of B.C. in partnership with community organizations, said increases were measured across all 11 communities surveyed, with most communities “measuring record numbers of people identified as experiencing homelessness.”

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This year, 4,821 individuals were identified on the night of March 7, and through the day and evening on March 8, compared with 3,634 people counted a few days before the pandemic was declared in March 2020, the organization said Thursday.

This is the largest increase between consecutive counts since the group began the count began 18 years ago.

Delta, Richmond and the Tri-Cities measured the most significant percentage changes in the number of people experiencing homelessness, with count-over-count increases of 159 per cent, 91 per cent and 86 per cent, respectively, according to a news release from the group Thursday.

Surrey, Vancouver and Burnaby had the largest changes in the total number of people count-over-count, with 416, 325 and 85 more individuals counted in 2023 compared with 2020.

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