Print
Homeless Count volunteer

Homeless Count

Homeless counts have taken place across the Metro Vancouver region every three years since 2002. The City of Vancouver started conducting an annual count in 2010. Each year, the count takes place throughout the city over a 24 hour period in March, inside shelters during the evening, and on the streets the next day.

Although counts do not give us a full picture of the extent of homelessness, the counts provide critical information on the number and characteristics of the homeless population, and how this population has changed over time.

Volunteers play a key role in homeless counts. Each year we recruit and train over 400 volunteers to participate in the count. This involves conducting a brief anonymous survey with people who are homeless.

Homelessness Services Association of BC Homeless Count logo

The Homeless Count logo is provided by the Homelessness Services Association of BC (HSABC) . HSABC was established through a merger of GVSS and Shelter Net BC.

Its mandate is to strengthen and unify services across BC that are addressing the needs of persons experiencing homelessness. 

2020 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver

This year’s homeless count took place in shelters on March 3 and on the street on March 4 all day. Thank you to everyone who volunteered – we couldn’t have done the count without you.

The results will be out later this spring.

2019 Homeless Count

The Homelessness Services department presented the results of the count to Vancouver City Council on June 12, 2019.

View the staff presentation (9 MB)

The 2019 count found:

  • 2,223 residents in Vancouver identified as homeless
  • 614 people were living on the street
  • 1,609 people were living in sheltered locations, including emergency shelters, detox centres, safe houses and hospitals, with no fixed address

Read the 2019 Homeless Count report (1.7 MB)

Previous Homeless Count reports

Have questions?

homelessness@vancouver.ca