Tag Archives: Victoria Homelessness

Housing, Poverty

After 13 Fatalities: Victoria housing advocates and residents pull no punches with City council

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Things got heated between community housing advocates, unhoused residents, and Victoria City Council last Thursday night. For members of the public who presented at the Dec. 12 meeting, it was an opportunity to express their anger, frustration, and deep sorrow in the face of the deaths of several of their friends and chosen family in recent weeks. Their grief and anger were palpable. And they were righteous.

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Housing, Poverty

Tenants from Village on the Green rally for more housing security

Editor’s Note: When asked what caused their most recent housing loss, the #1 answer in all 20 Point-in-Time Counts taken in BC last year was ‘not enough income.’ In Campbell River a quarter of the respondents had been homeless for less than 6 months and 65% had been Campbell River residents for five years or more. When the 2021 Census was taken, 12,835 Campbell River residents, 200 households in Area C and 70 households on Cortes Island were spending more than 30% of their income on housing. They are considered to be ‘at risk’ of becoming homeless. 

In the following story, the residents of a 38 unit subsidized housing complex in Victoria are about to be turned out to make way for a new housing development. They have been promised first right of refusal in the new development’s subsidized units, once it is built. Meanwhile, as they do not possess sufficient income to pay market rental rates, many will most likely be living in the streets.

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tenants of a community of subsidized housing units near Cook and Johnson destined for demolition are worried that once their home is gone, they won’t be able to afford another. 

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Housing, Poverty

Options ever slimming for unhoused people attached to Pandora

Editor’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. 

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Housing, Poverty

‘Where do people go?’: Over 1,600 homeless in Victoria far surpasses shelter space

Editor’s note: Betweenuary Jan 10 and 18, 20 – 70 people sought respite from the freezing temperatures in Campbell River’s Warming Centre every night.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Victoria, BC – When the cold weather snap brought record breaking temperatures through British Columbia, Victoria’s dropped to as low as -10 with a wind chill of -20 – a cold front that the unhoused population was not prepared for.

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Housing, Poverty

The #1 cause of homelessness

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“Scapegoating: the act of blaming a person or group for something bad that has happened or that someone else has done. Example: the scapegoating of immigrants for the country’s economic problems.” – Cambridge Dictionary

While it is easy to blame the unhoused population for their predicament, all of the recent ‘Point In Time’ (PIT) suggest they are indications of a much larger problem. 

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