By: Yasmin Hassan, Staff Writer
In June 2023, the City of Burnaby launched the Mayor’s Task Force on Unsheltered Community Members. The team aims to respond to the unhoused population in Burnaby by taking an interdisciplinary approach to increasing shelter capacity and accessibility. The task force is made up of government representatives, non-profit organizations, healthcare professionals, and individuals from housing and public safety sectors.
Several collective meetings were held from June 2023 to April 2024, with the task force submitting a final report on June 24. The report addresses the lived experience of unsheltered individuals by covering topics such as landlord discrimination, and a lack of affordable housing, community support, and safety in most shelters. The team’s targeted start date is set to be no later than October 31.
Recommendations from the task force are split into four focus areas in their final report: creating additional shelter spaces, developing a range of housing types to meet a variety of needs, coordinating an interagency response to outreach, and providing support services to unsheltered community members.
The BC Housing website for shelters in Burnaby shows that the only shelter in Burnaby is the Douglas Road location. However, with the closure of the Buller Avenue shelter and the expected closure of the Douglas Road shelter in 2025, the task force’s top priority is increasing overall shelter capacity and accessibility for “a mix of populations, including seniors, women, 2SLGBTQIA+, and families.”
According to the Point-in-Time Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver report, cited in the task force’s report, 209 people in Burnaby were unhoused in 2023 — a 69% increase from 2020. These two reports cited various factors to explain the rise in people without housing, such as having low income, a rise in housing prices, substance use disorders, and intimate partner violence.
“Certain populations such as Indigenous peoples, seniors, and people with a history of interactions with the child welfare system are overrepresented,” states the task force’s report.
“Addressing these challenges in a meaningful way will require political will and response from all three levels of government,” said Maita Santiago, chair of the task force. Burnaby mayor and vice chair of the task force Mike Hurley added, “It is imperative that we move quickly to implement the short-term recommendations included in the report and work together as a community to support a long-term framework for addressing homelessness in Burnaby.”
The task force’s report also includes a list of recommended practices including the Housing First approach, tiny homes, and coordinated response teams like the Homeless Encampment Action Response Team. The Housing First approach prioritizes “permanent, affordable housing as the first step in transitioning someone out of homelessness.” Another recommended practice mentioned is a By-Name-List, which is a record of those known to be unhoused, displaying vital demographic information.
The report also mentions an “over-reliance on enforcement,” like RCMP and bylaw/park officers, in approaching unhoused populations. This coincides with the sentiment of the advocate group StopTheSweeps, who state street sweeps are harmful to the unsheltered community as they can face “harassment, intimidation, and the theft of their property” from authority figures. The task force held consultation sessions with front-line staff working in local agencies. One of the comments in the report states, “this puts bylaw officers, park officers, and police officers in a bad position because they want to help the person but are pressured by other community members to ‘make it go away.’”
For more information on the task force, refer to the final report from the city.
