Homelessness

Diane Miller and her pet cockatoo, Rocky. Miller and Rocky are living in a van due to an inability to find affordable housing. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Housing hard to find for Langley senior and Elvis-loving cockatoo

Diane Miller and Rocky can’t find a permanent place to live amid the housing crisis

 

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside making an announcement on complex care housing in Kelowna on April 15, 2024. (Brittany Webster/Capital News)

240 new complex care units to be built across B.C.

20 of the units will be built on Pacific Ave in Kelowna

  • Apr 15, 2024

 

Bradner Road rest stop in Abbotsford on April 5. (Ryleigh Mulvihill/Abbotsford News)

Encampment at Abbotsford’s Bradner rest area displaced for construction

Rest area to close this summer; Ministry of Transportation will offer support

 

Tents and people are seen at a homeless encampment at Crab Park below the towers of the downtown skyline in Vancouver on Aug. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Advocates push Vancouver to hold off on demolishing park homeless camp

Stop the Sweeps opposed to plans for moving residents out, citing safety and hygiene

Tents and people are seen at a homeless encampment at Crab Park below the towers of the downtown skyline in Vancouver on Aug. 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A Victoria Police officer pulls off the sidewalk leaving an encampment of people experiencing homelessness on Pandora Ave. in Victoria on Thursday, Feb. 29. (Mark Page/News Staff)

B.C. ponders idea of involuntary care for some of its street-entrenched people

Experts say issue presents tricky choices, advocates say basic needs must first be met for success

  • Mar 7, 2024
A Victoria Police officer pulls off the sidewalk leaving an encampment of people experiencing homelessness on Pandora Ave. in Victoria on Thursday, Feb. 29. (Mark Page/News Staff)
Mission Villas retirement home and John’s Angels handed out food, clothes, and care packages to those experiencing homelessness at Kelowna’s Tent City on Saturday, Jan. 27. (Jordy Cunningham/Capital News)

PHOTOS: Care packages bring bright smiles to rainy Kelowna tent city

Mission Villas, John’s Angels gave out care packages to those experiencing homelessness a Tent City

Mission Villas retirement home and John’s Angels handed out food, clothes, and care packages to those experiencing homelessness at Kelowna’s Tent City on Saturday, Jan. 27. (Jordy Cunningham/Capital News)
Photo submitted

Councils want B.C. to create more tools to address public safety concerns

Province urged to help cities combat public disorder with a Community Safety Act

Photo submitted
Vancouver Fire Rescue Services say they responded to a call of a tent and possibly a person on fire at around 9 a.m. Monday. A police car with flashing lights is shown in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Matt Rourke

Man dies in Christmas Day tent fire in downtown Vancouver

Environment Canada data shows temperatures on Christmas Eve reached a low of -1.1 C

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services say they responded to a call of a tent and possibly a person on fire at around 9 a.m. Monday. A police car with flashing lights is shown in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Matt Rourke
On Nov. 3, outreach workers, bylaws, and RCMP officers were supervising the teardown of a homeless encampment, also known as street sweep, in the parking lot beside Connect Centre in downtown Courtenay. (Connor McDowell/Comox Valley Record)

OPINION: B.C. street sweeps perpetuate an endless cycle of misery

Dispossessing the homeless of their belongings does nothing to address the address

On Nov. 3, outreach workers, bylaws, and RCMP officers were supervising the teardown of a homeless encampment, also known as street sweep, in the parking lot beside Connect Centre in downtown Courtenay. (Connor McDowell/Comox Valley Record)
R.J., a homeless man who had been living in the Brookswood area, died on Nov. 3 in a camp in Dale Ball Passive Park. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Alleged attack on homeless man by teens under investigation in Langley

The victim died of an unrelated event the day the assault was reported

R.J., a homeless man who had been living in the Brookswood area, died on Nov. 3 in a camp in Dale Ball Passive Park. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
Deaths among homeless in B.C. rose in 2022 by 28 per cent compared to the previous year. The spike looks even more significant when looking at the last two years. Whereas BC Coroners Service counted at least 275 total death for 2019 and 2020, the two-year-total for 2021 and 2022 was 609, an increase of 138 per cent. (Black Press Media file photo)

Toxic drugs blamed as B.C. homeless deaths more than double

At least 609 homeless people died in 2021 and 2022, up 138 per cent from previous two-year-total

Deaths among homeless in B.C. rose in 2022 by 28 per cent compared to the previous year. The spike looks even more significant when looking at the last two years. Whereas BC Coroners Service counted at least 275 total death for 2019 and 2020, the two-year-total for 2021 and 2022 was 609, an increase of 138 per cent. (Black Press Media file photo)
Paul Zwingé is one of many Langley seniors facing a move – and potentially higher rents – soon because of redevelopment. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

B.C. seniors facing housing crunch, risk homelessness

Langley’s Paul Zwingé is one of many seniors facing an enforced move soon

Paul Zwingé is one of many Langley seniors facing a move – and potentially higher rents – soon because of redevelopment. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
This file photo shows a tent city outside the provincial courthouse in Victoria in January 2016. Two injunctions, one denied before a subsequent one was approved, against the encampment were analyzed in a new UBC report that’s critical of how B.C. courts treat the eviction orders. (Don Denton/Victoria News photo)

UBC report raises alarm over how easily courts granted homeless injunctions

85% of cases since 2000 never made it past interim court order that dispersed camps

This file photo shows a tent city outside the provincial courthouse in Victoria in January 2016. Two injunctions, one denied before a subsequent one was approved, against the encampment were analyzed in a new UBC report that’s critical of how B.C. courts treat the eviction orders. (Don Denton/Victoria News photo)
Being a neighbour of Campbell River's Overdose Prevention Site is proving a challenge for one local business, Pioneer Home Hardware. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror

13-year-old overdoses in downtown Dairy Queen as B.C. town struggles to cope

Young staff confronted by trauma as Campbell River asked to address nearby Overdose Prevention site

Being a neighbour of Campbell River's Overdose Prevention Site is proving a challenge for one local business, Pioneer Home Hardware. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror
The Campell River Art Gallery. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror

B.C. city backs off from pulling tax support from non-profit over homeless

Campbell River Art Gallery taxes to be ‘covered’ in return for development of positive relationship

The Campell River Art Gallery. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror
The Campell River Art Gallery. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror

Minister slams B.C. city for ‘attack’ on art gallery, overdose prevention site

Campbell River is poised to pull tax exemptions over each organization’s permissive homeless policies

The Campell River Art Gallery. Photo by Alistair Taylor/Campbell River Mirror
The camp on Government Road in Nelson on Sept. 29. Photo: Bill Metcalfe

Roadside B.C. homeless camp endures rocks, fireworks, from passing cars

Winter shelter options limited, public harassment common for people without homes in Nelson

The camp on Government Road in Nelson on Sept. 29. Photo: Bill Metcalfe
The 2023 Point-In-Time Homeless Count took place Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (Oxford Films Media/Special to The News)

1/3 of Metro Vancouver’s unhoused are Indigenous: Report

64% of Indigenous respondents reported having lived or generational experience with residential school

The 2023 Point-In-Time Homeless Count took place Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (Oxford Films Media/Special to The News)
B.C. conservation officers say four unhoused people were bitten by a coyote in downtown Prince George Sept. 26. They say aggressive coyote behaviour is likely the result of people feeding them. (Photo courtesy of B.C. Conservation Officer Service)

Coyote attacks 4 unhoused people in downtown Prince George overnight

Injuries non-life-threatening, but 3 people in hospital

B.C. conservation officers say four unhoused people were bitten by a coyote in downtown Prince George Sept. 26. They say aggressive coyote behaviour is likely the result of people feeding them. (Photo courtesy of B.C. Conservation Officer Service)
Angela Auger, still bruised from an attack around Sept. 6 in downtown Langley, with her husband, Marc Lapointe. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Homeless woman battered in face in downtown Langley

Police looking for witnesses to altercation, around Sept. 6

Angela Auger, still bruised from an attack around Sept. 6 in downtown Langley, with her husband, Marc Lapointe. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)