515 facing homelessness were accounted for according to the recently published 2023 Nanaimo Point-in-Time Count report. This is a 18.9 per cent increase from 2020.
At a council meeting on April 8, Andrew Thornton with the Canadian Mental Health Association, along with Vicky Trill and Julie Rushton of United Way BC, presented their findings from the report to the council.
Thornton says although there is rigorous work put into the count there are still limitations to counting every single person, with an estimated 800 to 1,000 people living in homelessness in Nanaimo.
According to the count, almost 80 per cent of those counted, live in what is labelled as unfit for human habitation. Victoria only accounts for 14.5 per cent of those that live in unfit for human habitation areas.
