2025
The 2025 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver was held on March 11, 2025. The preliminary report was released on July 30th and is available online at 2025 PiT Preliminary Report.
There was a nine percent increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Greater Vancouver since the 2023 Count, with the largest increase in people who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness, which means they’re living outdoors, without protection from the elements. In this year’s Count, unsheltered homelessness increased by more than 60 percent in several municipalities, even doubling in one.
A total of 5,232 people were experiencing homelessness across 16 municipalities in Greater Vancouver when this year’s Count was conducted over a 24-hour period in early March. The previous 2023 Count identified 4,821 people.
“We know that homelessness is growing at a much faster rate than population growth in the region, and this indicates that shelter capacity is insufficient,” says Lorraine Copas, Chair of the Greater Vancouver Community Advisory Board for Reaching Home.
It is important to note that Indigenous persons are overrepresented in unsheltered populations experiencing homelessness. While 42 percent of non-Indigenous respondents were unsheltered, 54 percent of Indigenous respondents were experiencing unsheltered homelessness.
More detailed data will be available in the fall of 2025.
2023
The 2023 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver was held on March 8, 2023. In October, the Indigenous report is available in the form of an Infographic.
The Indigenous homeless situation in Metro Vancouver continues to reflect the national crisis. The report continues to find that Indigenous Peoples are 13 times more likely to be homeless than anyone else in the total population of Metro Vancouver, 64% have a history with the residential school system and 51% of the respondents who identified as Indigenous spent time in the foster care system – the legacy of colonialism continues to negatively impact Indigenous Peoples.
2020
The 2020 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver was held on March 4, 2020. In November, the Metro Vancouver report was posted. The Indigenous report is available in the form of an Infographic.
The report continues to find that Indigenous Peoples are 13 times more likely to be homeless than anyone else in the total population of Metro Vancouver, and are 24 times more likely to be homeless and unsheltered. New information in 2020 is that 53% of the respondents who identified as Indigenous spent time in the foster care system. Despite new housing and homelessness investments, housing need continues to grow beyond the investments made.
2018
On July 26th, 2018, the Aboriginal Homelessness 2018 Count in Metro Vancouver was released, accompanied by an Infographic.
The report, which is based on the 2018 Aboriginal homeless count in Metro Vancouver, continues to find that First Nations people are overrepresented among the homeless population, accounting for 40% of the homeless in the region, despite making up 2.2 per cent of the population. This is up from 34% in 2017.
The report attributes the key causes of homelessness among Aboriginal people to social, systemic and historical factors. In addition to securing safe and affordable housing, it notes Aboriginal people face additional barriers such as poverty, racism, intergenerational trauma and migration from their home communities to urban centres. Metro Vancouver is one of the most unaffordable cities for housing in the world, adding to the systemic economic disadvantage facing Aboriginal Peoples.
The Aboriginal Homeless Steering Committee is calling for a number of recommendations to be implemented, including the creation of an independent BC Homelessness Ombudsman office to support the interests of homeless individuals that effectively have no voice in the current system as well as landlord educational campaigns.
2017
On April 10th, 2017, Metro Vancouver released a preliminary data report for the 2017 Homeless Count in the Metro Vancouver region.
On September 25, 2017, the Aboriginal Homelessness 2017 Count in Metro Vancouver was released.
The report, which is based on the 2017 homeless count in Metro, found that First Nations people were overrepresented among the homeless population, accounting for 34 per cent of the homeless in the region, despite making up 2.5 per cent of the population. See the full Vancouver Sun article here.
“These realities offer insight into why Aboriginal peoples are overrepresented among the homeless population and should be essential considerations in any path forward,” Wells said. “Intergenerational trauma, in particular, has emerged as a central theme in much of the research on Aboriginal homelessness.”