The City of New Westminster wants the provincial and federal governments to do more to tackle homelessness.
Metro Vancouver’s 2017 homeless count indicates the homeless population in New Westminster rose by 25.5 per cent between 2014 and 2017. Regionally, homelessness has increased by 29.8 per cent.
“There is no doubt the 2017 homeless count is not a positive report both locally and for the region, but it’s also not a surprise,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “I think most people in the region recognize the issue of homelessness is a growing concern. It’s all municipalities from the North Shore to Maple Ridge. There isn’t a community that hasn’t been impacted.”
Cote said he’s proud of the work New Westminster has done in the past decade to address homelessness, but it’s not an issue cities can’t address on their own.
In 2014, the federal Conservative government introduced a Housing First approached to homelessness, which prioritizes getting people into permanent housing as fast as possible and providing support services as needed.
“Housing First is not supposed to be housing only,” said Coun. Jaimie McEvoy. “That is what happened. That approach of dealing with drug addiction, homelessness, other issues of poverty and prevention – tens of thousands of people were prevented from being homeless by some of those programs. Housing First is only words right now – there’s supposed to be a lot more that comes with that approach to be effective. We see the result of that change in approach with the most recent homeless counts.”
Council approved a motion to bring forward motions to take to the Union of B.C. Municipalities to address issues regarding chronically homeless individuals, addictions and mental health services, and the housing outreach, referral and advocacy services that have been cut.
“I think the resolution should end with instructing the senior levels of government to work together, and to ensure that Housing First is not at the expense of the outreach that’s necessary to prevent people from becoming homeless,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr.
John Stark, acting planning manager, said the city began to see some progress in addressing homelessness as a result of developing a homelessness strategy and needs assessment, establishing a homelessness coalition, and working with B.C. Housing and the homelessness coalition to develop new emergency shelter capacity and transitional supported housing. As a result of the creation of new emergency housing and transitional housing, Stark said the number of homeless people who were unsheltered dropped from 72 in 2008 to 41 in 2011 and then 34 in 2014, before increasing to 67 this year.
“It’s the unsheltered homeless population which is the more concerning because typically people who are unsheltered are not accessing life-skills training, addictions counselling and other support services,” he said. “In 2014, we see that number continue to decline and then in 2017 we see a significant increase in the unsheltered homeless population.”
Stark outlined some of the reasons for the increase in homelessness in the region, including a lack of affordable rental and non-market rental housing. He said low vacancy rates and increasing rents may lead people to experiencing homelessness for the first time.
Other factors contributing to homelessness include an increased emphasis on the chronically and episodically homeless - at the expense of measures to prevent homelessness; funding cuts to housing outreach, support and advocacy services that targeted vulnerable populations; and inadequate funding from senior governments to address addictions and mental illness.
“With regard to mental health and addictions, and this is not just within New Westminster but when we look at Metro Vancouver as a whole and based on the 2014 count, we see that large percentages of people who were either sheltered or unsheltered deal with addictions and mental health issues,” Stark said. “Access to those services is really difficult and there are long wait lists.”
Earlier this year, the regional task force on homelessness released an action plan that included a recommendation to have the provincial and federal governments work with municipalities and community agencies to implement an immediate action plan by the end of 2017. The report, Addressing Homeless in Metro Vancouver, identifies 12 key priorities based on the goals of preventing people from becoming homeless, serving those who are homeless and finding pathways out of homelessness.
Cote said there are key segments of the population that are over represented in the homeless population, including aboriginals, people with mental illness or addiction issues and people who are aging out of foster care.
“The issue of homelessness is a complex issue and there is no magic bullet solution. But just because a problem is complex doesn’t mean that there aren’t solutions and policy action that can be taken to help address the issue,” he said. “One thing that I think became very clear in the Metro Vancouver report out of the task force was that we spend a lot of time dealing with the immediate problem and hardly any efforts dealing with people before they become homeless.”
Fast facts:
* Rates of working poverty and homelessness in Metro Vancouver are among the highest in Canada, with 60,000 households spending more than half their income on shelter.
* About 4,000 people in the region have an immediate need for housing and are living on the streets, in their cars, in homeless camps, parks and forests or in a temporary shelter.
* Approximately five people become homeless in the region each week.
* The incidence of homelessness has increased annually for the past 15 years and is now considered a state of crisis.
* An estimated 80 per cent of homeless people suffer a chronic health issue, 49 per cent have an addiction and 34 per cent suffer from mental illness.
* While First Nations people comprise about three per cent of the region’s overall population, 31 per cent of homeless people are of First Nations descent.
* About 40 per cent of homeless people have been in foster care, 40 per cent were in the criminal justice system and 70 per cent experienced a past trauma or abuse.
* It’s estimated that it costs taxpayers $55,000 annually for each homeless person, or more than $200 milion annually across the region.
Facts courtesy of Addressing Homelessness in Metro Vancouver report.
