Homelessness

A row of compact, gray wooden tiny homes with pitched roofs, neatly aligned on a paved lot under a clear sky. These small units, designed for temporary housing, reflect modern minimalistic architecture and highlight an alternative approach to addressing homelessness.
Housing

Encampments vs. Tiny Shelters: The Cost of Housing Vancouver’s Unhoused

The City of Vancouver has allocated substantial resources to manage homelessness, yet the financial and logistical viability of its approaches remains under scrutiny. Between ...
An encampment in a Vancouver park with a blue tarp shelter, a man sitting on a bench, and a sign indicating park closure hours, highlighting homelessness issues.
Policy

Vancouver’s Daytime Shelter Ban Faces Legal Challenge

The City of Vancouver is facing a lawsuit over its daytime ban on outdoor sheltering, a policy that has drawn significant criticism from legal ...
People in distress standing alongside East Hastings Street in Downtown Eastside Vancouver
Community

The Downtown Eastside Phenomenon Where a Neighbourhood Becomes a Metaphor

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has long symbolized the complexities of urban inequality, its streets reflecting a deep convergence of poverty, addiction, and systemic neglect. Once ...
A picture of a homeless woman on a streetside playing a guitar with a sign in front stating that she is homeless
Housing

British Columbia’s Approach to Homelessness Needs an Overhaul

Homelessness has become an inescapable reality in Canada’s urban centres, with tent encampments occupying parks, streets, and public spaces. While these encampments have sparked ...
An image of a homeless person sitting on a bench consuming substances in the middle of a busy urban environment
Healthcare

Multidrug-Resistant Shigella Spreads Among Vancouver’s Homeless Population

Shigella, a disease typically linked to poor sanitation in developing countries, is now thriving in the heart of Vancouver. A recent study on multidrug-resistant ...
An image of highly dense downtown core with different types of housing and public art
Housing

Canada Faces Tough Questions on National Housing Day

As Canada observes National Housing Day 2024, a day dedicated to awareness about housing and homelessness, the stark reality is that housing insecurity is ...
Image on active construction site in Downtown Eastside Vancouver against the backdrop of Burrard Inlet and North Shore Mountains
Housing

Housing First Struggles to Deliver for Vancouver’s Most Vulnerable

In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the Housing First model once offered hope for a path out of homelessness. Yet, cracks are beginning to show as ...
Picture of Brandon Buckingham interviewing a resident of Downtown Eastside Vancouver on East Hastings Street
Community

Life in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with Brandon Buckingham

In a brutally honest portrayal of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Brandon Buckingham’s Life on East Hastings goes beyond statistics and media headlines to capture the ...
Image of people in need welcomed in winter shelter space located in Downtown Eastside Vancouver
Community

2024-2025 Winter Shelter Spaces Across British Columbia

As temperatures begin to drop across British Columbia, thousands of people experiencing homelessness will have access to safe, heated spaces this winter. Through BC ...
A picture of the poor state of SROs located along East Hastings Street in Downtown Eastside Vancouver
Housing

Vancouver’s SROs: Shelter or Hidden Risk?

In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Single Room Occupancy buildings serve as a last-ditch option for thousands of low-income residents facing housing instability. These aged, small ...
Photo of a sign on the fence of Vancouver's Crab Park homeless encampment telling that the park is closed by the order of the Park Board General Manager
Housing

The City of Vancouver Announces Official Closure of CRAB Park Encampment

CRAB Park, a crucial green space in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, has been a focal point of the city’s homelessness crisis, drawing attention to the ...
Photo capturing construction in progress at one of Vancouver Downtown Eastside's affordable housing projects
Housing

Vancouver’s Social Housing Initiative Driving Affordable Inclusive Communities

As Vancouver continues to face one of the most severe housing crises in Canada, the city has responded with the Vancouver Social Housing Initiative, ...
Vancouver Police Department captured clearing out Cram Park homeless encampment based on 2020 court order
Policy

Who is Responsible for Canada’s Homeless Encampments?

In recent years, Canadian cities have grappled with a rise in homeless encampments, bringing public safety concerns and legal challenges into the spotlight. The ...
People are captured on a sidewalk in front of the Hotel Canada SRO in Downtown Vancouver
Housing

The Fight to Save Vancouver’s SROs

Single Room Occupancies (SROs) have long served as the last stop before homelessness. However, the 2023 Low-Income Housing Survey highlights a sobering reality: SROs, ...
A picture of a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk in Downtown Vancouver
Housing

BC’s Housing Crisis: When Affordability Becomes a Luxury

British Columbia’s housing market has spiraled out of control. The dream of owning a home in British Columbia has become a distant reality for ...
Vancouver residents captured at Affordable Housing Protest holding posters calling for more affordable housing
Housing

Canada’s Housing Crisis Worsens as National Strategy Fails to Deliver

Despite minor shifts in the housing market, prices remain too high for both buyers and renters, pushing families into instability and homelessness. The National ...
Picture showing conditions of people living in tents in the Crab Park located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia.
Community

CRAB Park Residents Take Vancouver to Court Over Homeless Encampment Rules

Tammy Littlejohn and Robbie Wallace, two women who have lived in Vancouver’s CRAB Park encampment, are now taking their fight to the B.C. Supreme ...
Prefabricated houses at various stages of construction demonstrate a possible path British Columbia can take to tackle its housing crisis.
Housing

Fast-Tracking Factory-Built Homes in British Columbia

British Columbia is facing a housing crisis that shows no sign of abating. As prices soar and availability plummets, politicians have scrambled to find ...
Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s Minister of Housing; Joan Phillip, MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant; Taleeb Noormohamed, MP for Vancouver Granville; Patty Hajdu, federal Minister of Indigenous Services; Pete Fry, deputy mayor, Vancouver; and Susan Tatoosh, executive director, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre (VAFCS), announced a combined investment of more than $97 million to fund the 248 new spaces.
Housing

Indigenous-Led Housing Development to Transform Downtown Eastside

A major new development is set to reshape Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, bringing much-needed relief to one of the city’s most vulnerable communities. Ho’-kee-melh Kloshe ...