The 2023 Squamish Point in Time Homeless Count took place in a 24 hour period between the evenings of April 24th and 25th this year, in partnership with Homelessness Services Association of BC , Squamish Helping Hands Society, PearlSpace, Sea to Sky Community Services, and Vancouver Coastal Health. Results from the Count are now available online.
Highlights include:
👉 119 people were identified as experiencing homelessness (compared to 107 in 2021)
👉 86% of respondents were unsheltered
👉 67% were adults between the ages of 25-54, 9% were youth under 25
👉 32% of respondents identified as Indigenous, compared with 3% of the Census population
👉 41% reported insufficient income as their reason for housing loss
The Homeless Count uses a Point-in-Time methodology involving a survey and shelter counts to provide a number of persons experiencing homelessness in a given community in a 24-hour period.
Surveys almost always results in an undercount, and results will reflect only those who participated in the survey. In past counts, women, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community, Indigenous people, racialized peoples, youth, and seniors tend to be underrepresented in this methodology.
The complete Squamish 2023 profile is available here: https://hsa-bc.ca/_Library/2023_HC/HC_2023_CommunityProfile_Squamish.pdf. The previous profile for 2021 is available here: https://hsa-bc.ca/_Library/2020_HC/Homeless-Count-Squamish-2021.pdf.