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HOUSING CRISIS
North Shore’s unsheltered homeless numbers climb sharply BRENT RICHTER
brichter@nsnews.com
The number of people found sleeping rough on the North Shore has climbed 67 per cent in the last two years, according to the latest Point-in-Time Homeless Count.
Every two years, volunteers fan out across the community to survey people staying in shelters, encampments and vehicles to better understand changes in the region’s homeless population. On the North Shore, volunteers met with 85 unsheltered individuals in 2025, up from 51 in 2023. The number of folks staying in shelters, safe houses, hospitals or jail at the time of the March 11 count, fell from 117 in 2023 to 83 this year. It means the total number of homeless people stayed static, but more of them were sleeping outside. That is a serious problem, said Mark Friesen, executive director of Hollyburn Community Services Society, which operates safe houses for seniors and youth facing homelessness. “It’s more people out on the streets who are increasingly precarious. They’re not safe and it’s going to result in lives lost,” he said. Continued on A10
Dana Mathers has been living around North Vancouver and West Vancouver in his Mercedes station wagon with his brother for the last 14 months. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN