Why are so many people homeless on Canada's streets? How to read the numbers, what the causes are, and who to contact in Victoria if you need help or want to help

1. First, the numbers: how many people were counted across Canada and in Greater Victoria

Status: the federal report on the 2025 count was updated on May 28, 2026; the results of Greater Victoria's 2025 count were announced on September 24, 2025. As of November 5, 2026, these are the latest figures from both.

What a "point-in-time count" is. Its full name is Point-in-Time Count, or PiT Count for short. On one night (or within one day), staff and volunteers go to shelters, streets, parks and encampments to count people, to find out how many people do not have a place of their own that night. So it is a "snapshot of one night", not the total number of people over a year.

Across Canada. The Everyone Counts 2025 report from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada says that in 2025, 75 communities each chose one night to do a count, and together they counted over 65,000 people experiencing homelessness. Where they stayed that night:

Of the 17,620 people in unsheltered locations, 4,763 were in encampments (places where several tents or makeshift shelters are grouped together).

In plain terms: the people you can see on the street are only part of the picture; most people actually spent that night in a shelter or in transitional housing.

Relative to population. Across Canada, about 22 in every 10,000 people were homeless that night. In the report, B.C. is part of the "Western and Northern" region (B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, plus the three northern territories: Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), which had 28 in every 10,000 people, the highest of the three large regions in the report (Western and Northern, Central, and Atlantic); of the people counted in this region, 38% were in unsheltered locations (in the Central region, it was 21%).

Is it shooting up every year? The report compares the 72 communities that took part in all three rounds:

The report says that compared with 2023–2024, 2025 was "relatively stable" (the total fell by 2.6%); but compared with 2020–2022, it was still 59% higher. The report also gives two reasons that may make the 2025 figure look lower: first, there were fewer asylum claims (down 34% from October 2024 to October 2025), so demand for shelter beds may have been somewhat lower; second, about 24% of the communities asked said the area covered by the outdoor count was smaller this time than last time (because people in encampments were suddenly moved, because of methodological and logistical constraints, because of bad weather, and so on). So this one round is not enough to say that the problem has eased.

Greater Victoria. On September 24, 2025, the Capital Regional District (CRD) announced that the count done on March 25 and 26, 2025 found 1,749 people experiencing homelessness; the count in March 2023 found 1,665 people. The count was done by the CRD together with Greater Victoria's Community Social Planning Council (CSPC), with 130 volunteers taking part, and was funded by Reaching Home, the federal homelessness program. The CSPC puts it as "at least 1,749 people". The CRD itself also points out that a count is only a snapshot of the people who could be counted, so the totals from the two years cannot be compared directly. This guide's reminder: so you also cannot simply say the number "went up by 84 people".

The City of Victoria's page also cites this figure: in 2025, at least 1,749 people in the whole Capital Region were homeless on a single night.

A few things to know when you look at these figures:

• It is only one night. The federal report states that the number counted on one night will be lower than the number of people who experience homelessness over a week, a month or a year.
• Most people staying in someone else's home are not in the core figures. Staying at a friend's place or sleeping on someone's couch is called couch-surfing, and it counts as "hidden homelessness". Some communities counted these people, but the federal report did not include them in the 65,000, because the counting methods differ too much from place to place. The federal government says a question has been added to the census to measure this group.
• People in hospitals and jails are not in the core figures either. Section 5 explains this in detail.
• Communities counted on different dates. Metro Vancouver and Victoria counted in March 2025, 15 health regions in Quebec in April 2025, and another 58 communities in October and November 2025.
• How counts will be done from now on. Starting in 2025, the federal government does a count of people every year; every three years there is a "full count", which includes a survey as well as the count of people. The next full count is in the fall of 2027.

Not verified for this guide: how many of the 1,749 people in Greater Victoria were in shelters and how many were outdoors is in the CRD's full report (a PDF file, 34.9MB); this guide did not read the PDF, so these figures are not included.

2. The reason mentioned most often: not enough income to pay the rent

First, an example (this is an example; it does not mean everyone's situation is like this). A person's monthly income is just enough to pay the rent and buy food. If they get fewer shifts, or stop working because of illness, or the landlord wants the place back, they have to find a new place. At that point, "there are vacant units on the market", "they can afford it", "a landlord is willing to rent to them" and "they can stay there long term" are four different things.

What the federal survey says. In Part 2 of the federal Everyone Counts 2024 (the survey part; the web page was updated on June 17, 2026), more than 37,000 people experiencing homelessness in 90 communities and regions answered the survey. Most communities did the survey in October and November 2024; Metro Vancouver and Victoria did it in March 2025, and some regions of Quebec did it in April 2025.

When asked why they most recently lost their housing, people could choose more than one answer (the survey says "Check all that apply"); the reasons mentioned most often were:

• Lost their housing because of abuse by a spouse or partner: 16% of women, 3% of men.
• In another question, 40% of people said that losing their housing was related to an eviction.

How to read these percentages. Because people could choose more than one answer, these percentages cannot be added up, and you cannot say that "36% of homelessness is caused by rent". What they say is: of the people who answered the survey, 36% mentioned not having enough income to pay the rent.

The rental market has loosened, but how much has it eased for the poorest? On December 11, 2025, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) discussed its 2025 rental market report: the national vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments rose from 2.2% to 3.1%, above the 10-year average; some landlords have started to offer incentives such as one or two months of free rent. But one of CMHC's Deputy Chief Economists said on the same page that renters with the lowest incomes have not seen much relief, and that they are the ones under the most pressure (the exact words: "at the lowest levels of income, there's not a lot of relief there").

Poverty rate: B.C. is the highest of the provinces. Statistics Canada reported on April 29, 2026 that in 2024, 11.0% of people in Canada (about 4.5 million people) lived below the official poverty line, about the same as the 11.1% in 2023. Among the provinces, B.C. was the highest, at 13.0%, and Ontario was second, at 12.5%.

The official poverty line uses the Market Basket Measure: it first works out how much a family needs to spend for a basic standard of living, including food, clothing, transportation, housing, communications and other expenses, and then adjusts this for the size of the family and where it lives; if the money the family has available is less than this amount, the family is counted as below the poverty line.

This guide's view: being poor is not the same as being homeless. But when people whose income has been tight for a long time run into a change such as losing a job, getting sick or having to move, they have no savings and few other places to go, so they are more likely to lose their housing all at once. This is this guide's inference, not what Statistics Canada says.

3. Why some people on income assistance still cannot pay the rent

Status: these are the amounts shown on B.C. government web pages on November 5, 2026. B.C. has just held a provincial election and the new government has not yet taken office; whether the amounts will change later depends on what the provincial government announces.

How much you can get. The B.C. government's "On income assistance" page (updated June 11, 2026) says that once your income assistance is approved, the most you can get each month is:

You also get MSP health coverage, and PharmaCare drug coverage with no deductible.

Where the $1,060 comes from. The provincial government's Income Assistance Rate Table (web page updated July 7, 2026; amounts in effect since August 1, 2023) splits the money into two parts:

• Support allowance: for a single person who is able to work and is under 65, $560 a month.
• Shelter allowance: for one person, at least $75 and at most $500.

$560 plus $500 comes to exactly $1,060. In plain terms: of the $1,060, at most $500 is meant for rent.

A rough calculation (this is an example; the $1,200 is an assumption, not the average rent in Victoria). A single person on income assistance finds a room for $1,200 a month. The shelter allowance is at most $500, so the remaining $700 of rent can only come out of the $560 support allowance. Even if all of the support allowance went to rent, they would still be $140 short, with nothing at all left for food, a phone or transit. This is what "you can be on income assistance and still not afford a place to live" means.

How much of your earnings you can keep. Since January 1, 2024, part of the money that people on income assistance earn from work is not deducted each month (the earnings exemption): $600 for a single person or a couple without children; $900 for a family with children; $1,080 for a family with a child with a disability, or where someone is in the Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers (PPMB) category.

What you need to do once you are on assistance. Each month, you must submit a monthly report (also called a cheque stub) by the 5th at the latest, to tell the government you still need help; you can submit it online through My Self Serve, or fill in a paper form and drop it off or mail it to your local office. Some people also have to follow an employability plan.

How to apply (the provincial government's "Apply for income assistance" page, updated October 27, 2025):

• You may be eligible in these situations: you have no job, or you do not earn enough for basic living costs; you are waiting for other money to come in; you cannot work at all; you urgently need food, shelter or medical attention.
• Before you apply, you must first use up your other income and assets.
• Apply online through My Self Serve; if you cannot do it online, call 1-866-866-0800 or go to your local office.
• Have these ready: ID for you and your family members, your Social Insurance Numbers (SIN), how much your monthly rent and utilities are, your bank account balances, and, if you have a vehicle, how much you still owe on the car loan.
• You will also be asked: whether you are receiving or waiting for EI (Employment Insurance) or WCB (workers' compensation); whether you have any outstanding arrest warrants; and whether a family member sponsored you into Canada.
• Usually you must first look for work for three weeks (the work search) and record your job search on a form. You may not have to look for work in these situations: you are fleeing a spouse or relative who is abusing you; you are a single parent with a child under 3; a physical or mental condition means you cannot look for work; you or an immediate family member is a Person with Disabilities (PWD); you cannot legally work in Canada; you are 65 or older.
• If you are not eligible but are truly in hardship, you can ask about hardship assistance.

When you call, you can say: "I need help right away. I have no money for food and rent. Can I apply for income assistance?"

"Why not just get a job?" This guide's view: once you have no home, showering, doing laundry, keeping your ID safe and answering the phone all become harder. BC Housing has a list of drop-in centres, where you can usually get a meal, do laundry and take care of personal hygiene; its Homeless Prevention Program can also, for several groups of eligible people, pay for costs needed to get a rental, such as replacing ID (section 10 explains in detail). This shows that for some people, before they can go back to work, they first need a place to sleep, a place to shower and a way to be reached.

Not verified for this guide: there is a separate rate table for disability assistance (PWD), which this guide did not check, so it is not included here.

Related: for how rent is worked out in rent-geared-to-income housing for people with no income or very low income, see Guide No. 52, Rent-geared-to-income housing, section 6 "No income or very low income does not mean no rent"; for RAP and SAFER, which help a little with rent each month when you rent in the private market, see section 8 "RAP and SAFER: keep renting in the private market and get some help each month" of the same guide.

4. Health and addiction: they can be a cause, and they can also be a result

What the figures say. The federal 2024 survey asked people whether they had challenges in any of the following areas; the answers given most often were:

"Substance use" here includes drinking alcohol, not just illegal drugs. One more figure: among people with substance use challenges, 36% were in unsheltered locations on the night of the count; among people without such challenges, it was 13%.

How these figures should not be read.

• "What challenges do you have" and "why did you lose your housing" are two different questions. When asked why they most recently lost their housing, 14% mentioned substance use issues (section 2). So you cannot turn the 61% into "six in ten people are homeless because they use drugs".
• The survey answers are reported by the people themselves; they are not a doctor's diagnosis.
• The survey also does not show which came first.

Which came first: what a research institute says. On B.C.'s Here to Help website, an information sheet (2021) written by authors from the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research describes two situations:

• Some people have mental health or substance use problems before they become homeless, and this affects their work and their housing.
• For some people, the problems start after they lose their housing: the fear, anxiety and loneliness of sleeping rough can lead to depression and poor sleep; people whose mental health was fine while they had a home may also develop problems after losing it.

This guide's reminder: you cannot tell from a person's clothes or behaviour whether they are ill or using drugs. If you want to help, leave the assessment to trained outreach workers and health care workers (sections 10 and 11 have phone numbers).

5. After leaving hospital, jail or foster care: the point where people most easily lose their support

The day someone leaves an institution. The federal 2025 report gives a separate figure: on the night of the count, 64 communities also counted 6,466 people who were in hospitals, addiction treatment or correctional facilities (prisons and jails), were about to be released, but had "no fixed address". The federal government says this is not a complete figure, because not every institution was able to take part in the count, so it was not included in the 65,000 either.

In plain terms: "the paperwork is done and you can leave hospital or jail" does not mean "you have a place to sleep tonight and someone to keep helping you tomorrow".

People who were in the foster care system as children. In the federal 2024 survey, 30% of people had been in foster care, a group home or a provincial child welfare program as children; among Indigenous respondents, this share was 50%.

What the Federal Housing Advocate says. In the executive summary of the final report of the Federal Housing Advocate's review of encampments, published on February 13, 2024, the Advocate calls on all levels of government to work together on the systems that drive homelessness, naming systemic racism and the failings in the child welfare, corrections and health care systems.

What B.C. already has in place.

• BC Housing's emergency shelter page states that people who need somewhere to stay after leaving a hospital, recovery centre, treatment centre or correctional facility can stay in a shelter.
• BC Housing's Homeless Prevention Program is specifically for these groups of people who are about to lose their housing: young people leaving the foster care system; women who have experienced violence or are at risk of violence; people leaving the correctional or hospital system; and Indigenous people. (Section 10 explains how to find it.)

When something goes wrong at home. As section 2 said, 15% of people mentioned conflict with a spouse or partner; 16% of women mentioned abuse by a spouse or partner as one of the reasons they lost their housing. This guide's view: for these people, the "home" they had was itself not safe, so simply telling them to "go home" does not solve the problem.

Indigenous people. In the federal 2024 survey, nearly one third (30%) of respondents were Indigenous, while Indigenous people make up only 5% of Canada's population, so their share among respondents is six times as high. The federal report says this reflects persistent structural inequity in access to safe and stable housing. This guide's reminder: this is about systems and circumstances, not about the character of any group; and you cannot guess a person's identity or life story from how they look.

6. There are shelters, so why do some people still sleep outside?

First, ask two questions: is there really a bed that night? And is that bed right for this person?

What BC Housing's emergency shelters are like. BC Housing's Emergency Shelter Program page says:

• Free. There is usually a bed and bedding, hot meals, showers, laundry, and staff to help; year-round shelters are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can stay one night, or longer if you need to, and during that time a case worker will help you look for longer-term housing.
• Three types: year-round shelters; temporary shelters, including temporary winter shelters (usually open in winter, until April 30; BC Housing's two pages give different start dates: the emergency shelter page says November 1, and the extreme weather page says October 1); and extreme weather shelters (section 11 explains in detail).
• Age: shelters are for adults 19 and older; some shelters have special arrangements for young people and older people.
• Gender: most take both men and women; some, for safety reasons, take only women, or only parents with children.
• Rules differ from shelter to shelter. Staff will expect appropriate behaviour, but each shelter's requirements are different. "High-barrier" shelters have more requirements, and "minimal-barrier" shelters have fewer.
• Only some shelters accept pets. Some shelters have a curfew, which limits checking in late at night.
• The map only shows which shelters are open, not which are full or which still have beds. BC Housing suggests calling first; most shelters are staffed 24 hours a day, but each one takes in new people at different times. If a shelter is full, staff will direct you somewhere else.

People with pets. In the federal 2024 survey, 3.8% of people had a pet with them on the night of the count. People with pets were more likely to be staying in someone else's home (26%, compared with 13% of people without pets), and more likely to be in unsheltered locations (33%, compared with 28% of people without pets).

Concerns about safety in shelters. When the results of Greater Victoria's 2025 count were announced, the CRD news release quoted an organizer with lived experience of homelessness (Bruce Livingstone of the Housing Justice Project). The gist: there are unsafe conditions both in emergency shelters and on the street, which may push some people further out of sight into "hidden homelessness"; and not everyone feels it is safe to say that they have nowhere to live. When introducing the report, the CSPC also wrote about "troubling increases in safety concerns with shelters".

What the Federal Housing Advocate says. The executive summary of the 2024 final report says that for some people, an encampment is often the only housing option, or the only option that meets their needs for safety, security and dignity; until suitable housing is available, governments and service providers must address the structural barriers that result in existing emergency shelters "not being accessible or appropriate" for some people.

This guide's view: turning down a particular bed does not mean someone likes sleeping outside. For a person who is afraid of being robbed or hurt, who needs accessible facilities, or who does not want to be separated from a partner or a pet, a place that exists on paper is not necessarily a place they can use. Shelters help in an emergency, but there also needs to be a next step toward long-term housing.

7. Why there seem to be so many people in downtown Victoria

Being visible and being many are two different things. The Here to Help information sheet says that many people who live outside, stay in shelters or often use support services have to live most of their lives in public places. Without a place they can go into, close the door and have privacy, they can only eat, sleep and deal with their own difficulties where other people can see them. So passers-by are more likely to see a person at their hardest moments.

Services are concentrated in the City of Victoria. The City of Victoria's page says that, as of January 2026, the City of Victoria has the largest share of the region's shelter spaces (89%) and of its supportive or transitional housing units (83%). The original reads: "Victoria has the region's highest capacity of shelter spaces (89 per cent) and supportive or transitional housing units (83 per cent)". In plain terms: nearly nine in ten shelter spaces in Greater Victoria are in the City of Victoria. This guide's inference: where services are concentrated, the people who need them also tend to be concentrated, so downtown seems to have especially many people.

"Did they all come from somewhere else?" This guide did not find official figures for Victoria on its own (they are in the CRD's PDF report, which this guide did not read). The federal 2024 survey gives national figures, which you can use as a reference:

• 27% had always lived in their current community; 31% had been there for more than five years; 40% had arrived within the last five years; 3% did not know when they had arrived.
• Of those who had been there for more than five years, 64% became homeless for the first time after arriving.
• 78% were born in Canada; 22% came to Canada as immigrants (7%), refugees (6%), asylum claimants (6%), or with another status such as temporary resident (3%).

This guide's view: what you see on one street cannot explain why each person came here. The official figures do not support the sweeping claim that "the weather is mild, so everyone comes from elsewhere".

8. Tents in Victoria's parks: what the City's rules are, and who to contact if you have concerns

Status: as written on the City of Victoria's web pages on November 5, 2026. These rules apply only to the City of Victoria; other municipalities such as Saanich, Esquimalt and Langford have different rules.

The rules. The City of Victoria's "Temporary Overnight Sheltering" page and its "Park bylaws" page say:

• Under the Parks Regulation Bylaw, sheltering overnight is not allowed in any city park; only when there is no other safe place to go can people experiencing homelessness shelter temporarily overnight in parks that the City has designated.
• Only from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. By 7 a.m., the tent and all belongings must be packed up and removed, and the person must leave.
• There are 34 designated parks in all (the page has a list and a map).
• The tent together with all belongings can take up at most 9 square metres (3 m × 3 m).
• A shelter must be at least 4 metres from streets, trails, sidewalks, medians and boulevards, environmentally or culturally sensitive areas, gardens, cemeteries, sports fields, areas where sheltering is prohibited, private property and other people's tents; at least 15 metres from playgrounds, and at least 50 metres from schools; it cannot be tied to trees, plants, benches, lampposts or any structure.
• If you follow the rules and your belongings are with you, they will not be taken or thrown away. Belongings left in breach of the rules can be removed or disposed of by bylaw officers or police; belongings that are removed are usually kept for 14 days, and you can pick them up from Bylaw Services at 12 Centennial Square, or call 250-361-0215 or email bylawservices@victoria.ca.
• The City says that bylaw officers work with Pacifica Housing, Island Health, the Victoria Cool Aid Society, United Gospel Mission and BC Housing to help people sheltering outside connect with supportive housing and health services.

If you have concerns, who to contact (the City of Victoria's "Report a Bylaw Violation" page):

• For an emergency involving personal safety or community safety: call 911. If there is a fire in a park or on a beach, also call 911 right away.
• For issues such as obstructions, encampments or aggressive panhandling: fill in the City's online Report a Bylaw Violation form. Bylaw officers work 7 days a week, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.; they deal with reports in order of priority, so they may not arrive right away. Do not report the same park or the same street more than once on the same day.
• If someone is sheltering overnight on your own private property and you want them to leave: call the Victoria Police Department non-emergency line at 250-995-7654.
• For unattended hazardous items on public property: call the City's Public Works 24-hour line at 250-361-0400.
• This form is only for the City of Victoria. If you do not know which municipality you are in, the City suggests checking the CRD's map and then contacting that local government.

This guide's suggestion: when you make a report, describe what you saw, not what you guess. Example: "The sidewalk at a certain intersection on Pandora Avenue is blocked by a tent, and a wheelchair cannot get through" is far more useful than "the people there are dangerous".

Related: for the police non-emergency numbers in Saanich, the West Shore and other parts of Greater Victoria, see Guide No. 20, Staying safe and getting help, section 10 "Local police non-emergency numbers: choose by where it happened".

9. What tends to work: "Housing First"

This guide's view: Looking at the sources above, roughly three things need to connect: before people lose their housing, help them cover a short-term gap; have more homes that people can afford and live in for the long term; and make sure people who need treatment and care keep getting support. This is this guide's summary, not the words of any agency.

What Housing First is. An August 2023 explainer from the Evidence Exchange Network (EENet) of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), written by Geoffrey Nelson and Tim Aubry, says:

• People move as quickly as possible into long-term housing of their own choice in the community, with a portable rent supplement and support services.
• The rent supplement and support services have no time limit; people get them for as long as they need them.
• No conditions before moving in: people do not have to first reach a certain level of daily living skills, do not have to take part in treatment first, and do not have to stop using substances first.
• Three principles: people make their own choices, the focus is on recovery, and people become part of the community.
• The explainer also lists "what is not Housing First": shelters; transitional housing; concentrated supportive housing, where a whole building houses only people who are homeless, have a mental illness or have an addiction, and staff provide services inside the building; and "tiny home villages". The explainer says there is currently no research on using tiny home villages to end homelessness.

In plain terms: housing comes first, and long-term support comes with it. This does not mean treatment is unimportant; support services are part of this approach from the start.

A large study done in Canada. The same explainer says: Canada's "At Home/Chez Soi" study, in five cities (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton), included more than 2,000 people who were homeless and had a mental illness; in all five cities, Housing First worked better than usual services at both ending homelessness and helping people stay housed. The explainer also says that the money Housing First saved in health care, social services and justice costs offset 46% of its cost for people with moderate needs, and 69% for people with high needs.

The same explainer also says that over the two-year study period, participants in the Housing First group spent an average of 73% of their time in stable housing, compared with only 32% for the usual services group. The federal government's news release of April 8, 2014 also reported these two numbers, and put it this way: "an average of 73 percent of participants in the Housing First group remained in stable housing, compared to 32 percent for the group receiving usual care". The two ways of putting it do not measure exactly the same thing; this guide goes by the CAMH explainer's "share of time".

How to read these studies. The research shows that this approach works for the people in the studies (people who were homeless and had a mental illness); it cannot promise the same results for every program or every person.

What is being done in Greater Victoria. The City of Victoria's page says:

• Direct responsibility for funding solutions to homelessness lies with the provincial and federal governments; the City says it does not have a mandate for housing and is not responsible for providing this funding (the "Temporary Overnight Sheltering" page also says the City does not directly build housing). What the City can do: set land use and zoning policies, set housing strategies, give money or in-kind support to the organizations involved, and manage public spaces such as parks and streets.
• Through the federal Reaching Home program and the Regional Housing First Program, the City works with the CRD and others to provide housing on southern Vancouver Island.
• In July 2025, City Council approved the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan and set aside $10.35 million from existing funds for the first round of work, including support for service agencies and more shelter and housing.

This guide's view: To judge whether an approach works, it makes more sense to look at whether a person still has a safe place to live six months or a year later than at whether there are a few fewer tents on the street on a given day.

10. If you or a family member is about to have nowhere to live: where to get help

Status: the phone numbers and service hours were copied from official websites on November 5, 2026. The top of the BC Housing website says that because of the B.C. election, updates to the web content are paused, and "Content is current as of September 22, 2026"; when you call, go by what the agency tells you that day.

Step 1: You have nowhere to stay tonight.

• Call 211, or text 211. BC 211 is a free, confidential referral service for community services. You can reach a live navigator on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., except statutory holidays; the BC 211 website also has live chat and Shelter Lists, and the website's language menu includes Simplified Chinese. 211 helps you look for a place, but cannot promise there will be a bed.
• You can also go straight to BC Housing's shelter map: it shows addresses, phone numbers and the number of beds, but not which shelters are already full, so call first to ask.
• If there is danger: call 911.
• Women fleeing violence: the BC Housing page says you can call 1-800-563-0808 for free from anywhere in B.C.

When you call, you can say: "I have nowhere to stay tonight. Can you help me find a shelter in Victoria?"

Who can stay in a shelter (the situations BC Housing lists): you have no fixed address; you live on the street or in other public places; you are leaving a hospital, rehabilitation centre, treatment centre or correctional facility and need a place to stay; you need a place to stay during an especially cold and wet winter; you have just left a situation where someone exploited you financially, sexually, physically or emotionally; you are staying somewhere temporary and do not know how long you can stay, such as a friend's place or a place without a lease; your landlord has told you to move out, and you need to find a new place within three months.

Step 2: If you already have nowhere to live, or soon will not: find an outreach worker. An outreach worker helps you find resources you can use right now, and then connects you to housing after that. On BC Housing's page for finding a homeless outreach worker, these are listed for Victoria:

When you call, you can say: "I'm about to lose my housing. Can I talk to an outreach worker?"

Step 3: See whether you can use the Homeless Prevention Program. BC Housing's Homeless Prevention Program gives people who are about to have nowhere to live a portable rent supplement, together with support services, to help them rent a place in the private market; it is free.

• Who it is for: young people leaving the foster care system; women who have experienced violence or are at risk of violence; people leaving the correctional or hospital system; Indigenous people.
• The rent supplement is for people 19 and older; people 18 and under may also be able to get it, so ask an outreach worker.
• Once approved, it can be used for: rent; deposits; costs you need to pay in order to rent a place (for example, replacing ID documents); transportation to view places; storing your belongings while you wait to move; connecting utilities such as heat and water; moving costs; and basic household items when you first move in.
• It cannot be used for: rent that is already covered by another rent subsidy you receive; costs that have nothing to do with housing or this program; medical and treatment services; fees for health care practitioners; daycare costs.
• BC Housing states that this rent supplement is intended to be temporary, which is not the same as the "no time limit" of Housing First described in section 9.

The prevention program agencies in Victoria listed by BC Housing:

Step 4: You cannot pay the rent and are about to be evicted.

• Greater Victoria Rent Bank: the City of Victoria's page says the City funds this program every year and the CSPC runs it; it gives households that are about to be evicted because they cannot pay rent or utilities an interest-free loan that must be paid back; the loan can also be used for a deposit or the first month's rent, to move to a place that is safe and that they can keep living in.
• If you have questions about a notice telling you to move out: call the B.C. government's Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB): in Victoria 250-387-1602, in the Lower Mainland (including Metro Vancouver) 604-660-1020, and elsewhere in B.C. 1-800-665-8779. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (except statutory holidays); on the last Wednesday of each month, the hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

When you call, you can say: "My landlord gave me a notice to end tenancy. Can you explain my rights and the deadlines?"

Step 5: You have no income. To apply for income assistance, call 1-866-866-0800, or apply online through My Self Serve (section 3). If you urgently need food, shelter or medical attention, you may also qualify; if you do not qualify, ask about hardship assistance.

BC Housing's main phone line. The City of Victoria's "Temporary Overnight Sheltering" page says: people who are experiencing homelessness can call BC Housing at 1-800-257-7756 to ask about housing options; they can also apply for the Housing Registry (the waitlist for subsidized housing) at BC Housing's Victoria office (210-3440 Douglas Street) or online.

Related: for housing for people fleeing family violence, emergency shelters and outreach support, see Guide No. 3, Housing, the section "Emergencies and special situations"; for rent banks and B.C.'s other rental help, see the section "Two other kinds of rental help" in the same guide; for how the waitlist for subsidized housing works and what documents you need to provide, see Guide No. 52, Rent-geared-to-income housing, section 10 "How to apply, what to provide and how long the wait is".

11. If you see someone who needs help in cold weather: what to do

First look at the situation and work out how serious it is.

1. The person cannot be woken up, is breathing slowly or is not breathing: call 911 right away. The signs of an opioid overdose that Health Canada lists include: trouble walking, talking or staying awake; blue, purple or grey lips or nails; slow, weak or no breathing; and not waking up when you shake them or call out to them. Health Canada says: if you suspect an opioid overdose, call 911 right away; if you have naloxone on hand (a medicine that can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose), give it to them, and you can also give it while you wait for the ambulance; an overdose is always an emergency; even after you give naloxone, get someone to help, because the medicine may wear off before the overdose does; more than one dose may also be needed. Follow the instructions in the naloxone kit and from the 911 operator. Do not simply assume that someone who cannot be woken up is "asleep".

If you call 911, the law gives some protection. The federal Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act: if someone overdoses and you call 911 for help, the law gives some protection. It can protect the people at the scene (including the person who overdosed, the person who called for help, whether they stay or leave after the call, and anyone else who is there when help arrives) from being charged with "possession of drugs", and from being held responsible for breaking conditions related to drug possession. But it does not cover more serious matters, such as outstanding arrest warrants, or producing or trafficking drugs.

2. Someone is in a very poor mental state and may hurt themselves or others: if there is immediate danger, call 911. If there is no immediate danger, you can call:

The City of Victoria's page also lists Island Health's referral line for mental health and substance use services (Mental Health and Substance Use Service Link): 1-888-885-8824.

3. The person is awake, but cold and with nowhere to go: This guide's suggestion: first ask what they need, for example, "Are you okay? Do you need help finding a warm place tonight?" If they say no, respect that. Do not pat their face, and do not gather around to watch. You can call 211 for them to ask where there is space tonight, or tell them the number 211. Note: BC 211's live services (phone, text and live chat) are staffed only on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; after 9 p.m., on weekends and on statutory holidays, you can check the Shelter Lists on the BC 211 website, or call a shelter directly using the phone number on BC Housing's shelter map.

"Extreme weather shelters" in winter. BC Housing's Extreme Weather Response (EWR) program: when winter weather is bad enough to threaten people's health and safety, a local community representative issues an alert under the Assistance to Shelter Act, and extra temporary shelters open; they open every night while the alert is in effect, until the alert is cancelled. The alert is also passed on to police, to help people who are at risk because of the weather. The EWR season runs from October 15 each year to April 15 of the next year. When and where these shelters open is decided by each community's own plan; this guide's suggestion: to find out whether one is open tonight, call 211 on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.; at other times, check the Shelter Lists on the BC 211 website, or call shelters directly using the phone numbers on BC Housing's shelter map.

4. It is not an emergency, but you are worried, or the police need to deal with it: in the City of Victoria and Esquimalt, call the Victoria Police Department non-emergency line at 250-995-7654; in other municipalities, call the local police non-emergency line.

Related: for what to tell 911 when someone has collapsed, is suddenly ill or may have been poisoned, see Guide No. 20, Staying safe and getting help, section 4 "Someone has collapsed, sudden illness or suspected poisoning"; for what numbers such as 988, BC 211 and 311 are for, see section 11 "Each of these help numbers has its own purpose" of the same guide.

12. If you want to help: donating money or goods, or volunteering, and how to find the right place

Before you donate money, check whether it is a registered charity. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) pages on what to know before you give and on avoiding donation fraud say:

• First look the organization up on the CRA's List of charities: you can see its registration status, contact information, its main activities and its financial information.
• A registered charity can issue official donation receipts, which you can claim when you file your taxes; but it does not have to give you one, so you need to ask for it. If it agrees to give you one, you will usually receive it by February 28 of the following year.
• Be careful in these situations: you are pushed to donate right away; you are asked to pay in cash, gift cards or money orders, and transfers, cheques or credit cards are not accepted (cash cannot be traced and cannot be taken back); you are promised a receipt for more than you actually donated. If you feel pressured to give, do not give for now.

Donating goods or volunteering: first ask the organization what it needs. BC Housing's lists include organizations in Victoria such as these:

• Our Place Society: BC Housing lists it as a drop-in centre in Victoria (919 Pandora Avenue, phone 250-388-7112). BC Housing says drop-in centres are usually open during the day and offer help such as meals, laundry, showers and referrals.
• Victoria Cool Aid Society: BC Housing lists it as an outreach organization in Victoria (phone 250-383-1977).

If you want to donate clothing or bedding, or to volunteer, first call or visit the organization's own website and ask what it needs right now, whether it accepts these donations, and how to sign up, so that what you bring does not go unused. You can ask: "Do you accept donations of warm clothing or blankets right now? What do you need most?" "Do you have any volunteer opportunities?"

This guide only gives examples from BC Housing's lists; they are not recommendations, and this guide has no connection with any of these organizations. Before you decide which one to give money to, check it on the CRA list yourself first.

Sharing your views on housing and homelessness policy is also a way to help. For whom to contact and how to start, see Guide No. 64, Three issues before B.C.'s new government takes office, section 6 "If you want to share your views: whom to contact and how to start".

Related guides

• → No. 52 · Rent-geared-to-income housing
  Reading B.C.'s income limits table and the limits around Victoria, how many bedrooms you can apply for, and how rent and minimum rent are worked out; why no income or very low income does not mean no rent (section 6); RAP and SAFER, which help a little each month while you keep renting in the private market (section 8); and how to apply, what to provide and how long the wait is (section 10).
• → No. 20 · Staying safe and getting help
  In an emergency, first assess the danger in front of you; what to do first when someone collapses, falls suddenly ill or may have been poisoned (section 4); the non-emergency police numbers for Victoria, Saanich, the West Shore and other places, chosen by where it happened (section 10); and what numbers such as 988, BC 211 and 311 are for (section 11).
• → No. 3 · Housing
  Finding housing and getting housing help in B.C.: how to apply for a subsidized apartment, RAP and SAFER; housing for people facing family violence, emergency shelters and outreach support (the section "Emergencies and special situations"); and other rental help such as the BC Rent Bank (the section "Two other kinds of rental help").
• → No. 64 · Three issues before B.C.'s new government takes office
  When the new government takes office after the B.C. election and when the results become official; the status, as of November 4, 2026, of three issues: the provincial basic personal amount, DRIPA and the Pacific Link pipeline; and if you want to share your views, how to find the MLA for your electoral district and how to start a letter (section 6).

Main official links in this guide

These are all the web pages used in this guide, sorted into 5 groups by source; the end of each section also lists the ones for that section. All of these pages were opened and read on November 5, 2026. The top of the BC Housing web pages says that updates are paused because of the B.C. election and that the content is current as of September 22, 2026. The last group, Here to Help and CAMH's Evidence Exchange Network, are explainers written by research institutes, not government pages. These points could not be read this time: the full report on the Capital Regional District (CRD) 2025 count (a PDF), so the guide does not say how many of the 1,749 people were in shelters and how many were sleeping outdoors; the full text of the Federal Housing Advocate's final report on encampments (only available as a PDF), so the guide uses only the summary on the web page; the rental vacancy rate for Victoria itself (CMHC keeps local figures on a separate data site, which was not read this time), so the guide gives only the national figure; and whether you can ask for a Chinese interpreter when you call BC 211, for which we did not find an official statement.

Federal government

B.C.

Greater Victoria

211 services

Research and explainers