The final report on the 2014 Homeless Count in the Metro Vancouver Region was released Thursday (July 31) and confirmed the preliminary findings released in April, of 106 homeless people in New Westminster.
This number confirms a decrease in the city’s homeless, which was down from 132 in the last count, in 2011.
The report defines homeless as not having an expected place to stay, and not paying rent, for 30 days.
The report showed that 34 of the 106 homeless in New West were unsheltered.
Unsheltered is defined, primarily, as someone with no physical shelter, such as someone sleeping in a park or couch surfing at someone else’s house.
Seventy homeless people reported staying in emergency facilities, and two people reported no fixed address.
In the Royal City, 18 of the homeless had lived in the city 10 years or more at the time of the survey. Of the 25 people who were new to the city — having lived in the municipality less than one year — all said they came to New West from another part of Canada. Thirteen were from another part of Metro Vancouver, and one was from elsewhere in B.C. None came from outside the country.
There were a total of 24 youth and children homeless on New West city streets. Eleven seniors and 16 First Nations people reported being homeless.
Across the Metro Vancouver region, a total of 2,777 homeless people were counted, which is an increase from 2,650 in the 2011 count.
The count is done every three years and took place over a 24-hour period on March 12, 2014.
