In 2025, the Province of British Columbia funded homeless counts in 20 communities. To virtually everyone’s surprise, the numbers were down in eight communities. Campbell River, Powell River, Comox and Parksville/Qualicum were among them. Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons were not. In this morning’s broadcast, Cortes Currents looks into the reasons why, as well as some popular misconceptions and possible remedies about homelessness.
Continue reading Why Some Local 2025 Homeless Counts DroppedEditor’s note: Greater Victoria’s most recent Point of Time Count, taken on March 7, 2020, found 1,665 people experiencing homelessness.
Homelessness continues to be a problem throughout our region and the rest of British Columbia. When the Cortes Island Housing survery was carried out in 2023, 8 of the 265 respondents were ‘unhoused.’ Point in Time counts in urban areas like Campbell River, the Comox Valley and Powell River found 197, 272 and 126 ‘unhoused’ people, respectively. A quarter of the respondents in Campbell River reported they had been homeless for less than 6 months and the #1 explanation all respondents gave was they did not have enough money to pay rent. 16% of the respondents in Campbell River, 20% in the Comox Valley and 12% in Powell River reported a full or part-me job.
By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After a series of City of Victoria tent-clearing operations along the Pandora corridor in the fall, interlocking blue fencing was installed to deter illegal sheltering along its 900 block. At around the same time, a facility at 926 Pandora used by people to store their belongings was shuttered.
Continue reading Options ever slimming for unhoused people attached to PandoraEditor’s note – Editor’s note – 197 ‘unhoused’ Campbell River residents were reported in the 2023 Point-in Time count. Data from the 2021 census suggests another 3,450 ‘housed’ residents are paying more for rent or mortgages than they can afford.
There is less data from rural areas, but annecdotal evidence suggests the number of people living in unstable conditions on Cortes and Quadra Island’s is higher than the 77 and 41 reported through the 2022 ‘Collecting Stories of Where You Live’ survey. They couch surfed, lived in vehicles, sheds etc, or outside. (11 Cortes residents and 12 people in Area C reported they were ‘unsheltered.’) Emma Wallace, who oversaw the project, suggested the actual number of Cortes residents living in ‘unsheltered’ or ‘at risk’ conditions might be 10% higher than what was reported. This gap between is believed to be even greater on Quadra Island, where there were fewer respondents to the survey. As someone recently pointed out, you need access to a computer to fill in an online survey. .
By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Comox Valley residents have the opportunity to participate in a range of free education workshops this spring, thanks to the Strengthening Communities’ Services Program administered by the Union of BC Municipalities.
The workshops run from April 10 through June 25 and are open to the public. They cover topics including mental health first aid, trauma-informed frontline response education and gender diversity education in the workplace.
Continue reading Free workshops support a collaborative response to homelessness in the Comox Valley
