BC Gov News
Data taken from the latest provincewide homeless counts indicates that homelessness continues to affect people throughout British Columbia, including youth, families, seniors and individuals from all backgrounds.
Recent findings from the 2025 provincially funded point-in-time (PiT) homeless counts show that more support is needed for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in B.C. communities. Data from the 20 communities counted indicates that eight communities saw a decrease in the total number of people identified as experiencing homelessness during the 24-hour period, while 12 communities saw an increase compared to the previous count in 2023.
“We know more needs to be done to help the most vulnerable members of our communities, and that’s why we’re building safe, secure homes and providing needed supports to help people overcome the cycle of homelessness,” said Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. “We are seeing some positive results through our Belonging in B.C. plan, as our homeless and encampment response and temporary housing solutions are providing rapid, co-ordinated, multidisciplinary responses when encampments arise.”
The 2025 point-in-time homelessness counts captured information from 20 B.C. communities, through volunteer surveyors over a 24-hour period. The counts provide a snapshot of information about gender, age, Indigenous identity, racial identity, health conditions, service use and factors that contribute to homelessness.
As in previous years, Indigenous people and former children in care are still over-represented in the counts. This year’s counts included new, Indigenous-led approaches to make the process more culturally safe and trauma-informed, and included changes that helped reach people who are often missed in traditional counts.
Data from these provincially funded community counts will be combined with 10 federally funded and two independent counts to produce the full 2024-25 Report on Homeless Counts, to be released this winter. B.C. is the only province to fund provincial point-in-time counts that align with federally funded counts, and the only province to produce a provincewide picture of homelessness.
Belonging in B.C. is part of a $19-billion housing investment by the B.C. government. Since 2017, the Province has created nearly 93,600 homes that have been delivered or are underway, including more than 9,600 supportive homes for people experiencing homelessness.
Learn More:
BC Housing worked with the Homelessness Services Association of B.C. to co-ordinate the counts. A full list of community profiles captured through the 2025 point-in-time counts can be found here: https://www.bchousing.org/research-centre/housing-data/homeless-counts
To learn more about Belonging in B.C., visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0019-000436
To learn about the steps the Province is taking to tackle the housing crisis and deliver affordable homes for British Columbians, visit: https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/housing/
A backgrounder follows.