Dropping temperatures prompt concerns for B.C.’s unhoused population

With winter weather hitting much of the B.C. South Coast this week, advocates for those experiencing homelessness are sounding the alarm.

With forecast lows around -8°C later in the week around the Lower Mainland, concerns are rising when it comes to the health of unhoused people.

“We know that people living on the streets are more exposed to pneumonia, hypothermia, so the risk is much higher there as well. You chances of getting sick and potentially dying are much higher,” explained Sarah Chew with the Union Gospel Mission (UGM) in Vancouver.

In the Lower Mainland and farther east, CityNews Meteorologist Michael Kuss says we’re set to see arctic outflows pushing westward in the next couple days.

“You know, -3°C to -5°C for daytime highs, and that’s going to happen by the end of the week and into the weekend. And that arctic air is going to shoot all the way out to the coast,” he said Monday.

“The real, serious, snowy wintry weather, that doesn’t show up until the end of the week … It really becomes a story by Wednesday all the way through the weekend, and there’s a pretty solid window in there where we’re going to get an arctic blast for the four western provinces, at least, and then slowly sliding east.”

Chew says while the cold isn’t a surprise, given the season, dropping temperatures are always a concern.

“It’s always a worry and a danger for those outdoors. So single-digit, below-zero weather like we’re going to be seeing definitely will be a bigger risk to people facing homelessness,” she told CityNews.

Amid the ongoing housing crisis across the Lower Mainland, the UGM notes there’s a lack of shelter beds available for those in need.

That, coupled with precipitation, can spell real trouble for those who are on the streets.

“There’s so much rain, there’s so much snow that’s going on, so staying warm and dry can be near impossible this week and weekend, and when things are wet and soaked and you can’t get to a warm place because we don’t have a shelter space available for you, you don’t have housing, that can be very dangerous,” Chew explained.

Chew says the UGM has 92 shelter beds, noting they are in high demand almost all year. In the absence of space, she tells CityNews the organization does its best to refer people to another place.

“But it is very concerning the amount of people we often have to turn away. As we all know, everyone deserves to have a warm, safe, dry place to sleep, but there’s just not enough affordable housing in Vancouver to make that possible,” she said.

The UGM is handing out cold weather gear to help people keep warm. However, the organization also relies on donations to support the region’s most vulnerable people.

According to the Homelessness Services Association of B.C., the last Greater Vancouver count of unhoused individuals identified more than 4,800 people experiencing homelessness in 11 communities, a 32 per cent increase compared with the previous count in 2020.

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-With files from Anthony Atanasov