Victoria indicatorsAll measures Homelessness and drugs
People without a home during the year
2,531 people
No target found. Who could set one: Province of B.C., Capital Regional District and municipalities. Targets and comparisons
Source: BC Stats. We read it on Nov 11, 2026.
Over time
People experiencing homelessness per 1,000 residents
2024 Per 1,000, by year
- Capital Region 5.5
- All of B.C. 5.8
M municipal election: Oct 15, 2022P provincial election: Oct 24, 2020; Oct 19, 2024F federal election: Oct 21, 2019; Sep 20, 2021
Targets and comparisons
No target found
No target for the number of people experiencing homelessness found in Belonging in BC (the Province’s homelessness plan) or the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan (February 2026), as of November 12, 2026. Who could set one: the Province of B.C., the Capital Regional District and municipalities.
Documents checked: Belonging in BC, the Province’s homelessness plan (initial phase 2022 to 2025) (2022); Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan (February 2026).
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Capital Region | All of B.C. |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5.5 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 5.3 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 4.9 | 5.4 |
| 2021 | 4.7 | 5.0 |
| 2020 | 4.8 | 4.7 |
| 2019 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
Who decides
Province of B.C. Runs housing programs through BC Housing (the British Columbia Housing Management Commission). Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing Act, s. 5
Show the 3 other bodies and the laws
| Body | What it decides | Law or bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Province of B.C. | Runs housing programs through BC Housing (the British Columbia Housing Management Commission). | Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing Act, s. 5 Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing Act, s. 10 |
| Government of Canada and Parliament | Must keep a National Housing Strategy with national goals on housing and homelessness. | National Housing Strategy Act, s. 5 |
| Municipal councils of Greater Victoria (13) | Each council decides land use in its own area and makes bylaws for parks and other public places. | Local Government Act, s. 479 Community Charter, s. 8 (3) |
| Capital Regional District Board | Runs a regional housing trust fund that helps fund affordable housing. | CRD Bylaw No. 3266, Regional Housing Trust Fund Service Establishment Bylaw |
Councils: last general local election October 17, 2026; next on October 19, 2030, the third Saturday of October set by the Local Government Act, s. 52. Province: last general election October 19, 2024; next set for October 21, 2028 unless called earlier (Constitution Act, s. 23). Canada: last general election April 28, 2025; next set for October 15, 2029 unless called earlier (Canada Elections Act, s. 56.1).
Each row says what a body decides and links to the law, order or bylaw that gives it that role. It does not say who caused a change: markets, households and other governments also move these numbers. Who decides what, for every measure · How we choose
What this number does not show
- This is not a count of people sleeping outdoors. It is an estimate from administrative records: people who stayed at least once in a BC Housing-funded shelter, or who received income assistance with no fixed address for three or more months in a row.
Two more limits
- People who are homeless but use neither service (for example, staying temporarily with friends) are not included.
- A better measure would be: People moved from shelter into housing. Not published as data. Not asked for yet.
Not measured yet in homelessness and drugs: hidden homelessness, overdose calls to paramedics in Greater Victoria. See all 17 gaps
In plain words
Up 5.9% in a year. Up 30% since 2019.
An estimate of how many people in the Capital Regional District were homeless at some point in the year, based on shelter stays and income assistance records.
How we decide “Worse”
The change is 5.9% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.
Fewer people going through homelessness is better. The estimate also rises when more people use shelters and services, and the page says so; the label still reads Better or Worse because the better direction is widely agreed. 2,531 in 2024 compared with 2,389 in 2023 (+5.9%).
Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series. The rule.
All notes on this number
Why it matters. It is published every year as open data, so it shows the direction from year to year. It is not a count of people sleeping outside on one night.
- This is not a count of people sleeping outdoors. It is an estimate from administrative records: people who stayed at least once in a BC Housing-funded shelter, or who received income assistance with no fixed address for three or more months in a row.
- People who are homeless but use neither service (for example, staying temporarily with friends) are not included.
- The number can rise when more shelter spaces open and are used, because shelter use is part of the definition.
- Geography is the whole Capital Regional District, not the City of Victoria alone.
- Estimates are published once a year, with a delay of about a year; 2025 is not yet available.
A better measure
- What
- People moved from shelter into housing
- Who could publish it
- Province of B.C. (BC Housing)
- Status
- Not published as data. Not asked for yet.
This page uses the best public number we found. Data requests
Also on this page
- Homelessness per 1,000 residents: 5.5 per 1,000 residents (Calendar year 2024)
These were separate pages. Their charts are above, and their old addresses lead here.
Which places
Area: Capital Region
The Capital Regional District: 13 municipalities and 3 electoral areas, including the Southern Gulf Islands and Salt Spring Island.
Included
- The 13 municipalities: Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal, Langford, Colwood, Highlands, Metchosin, Sooke, Central Saanich, North Saanich, Sidney
- The 3 electoral areas: Juan de Fuca (including East Sooke, Jordan River and Port Renfrew), Salt Spring Island, and the Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna)
- First Nations reserve lands within the region
Not included
- Communities north of the Malahat, such as the Cowichan Valley, Duncan and Nanaimo
Official definition
- Capital Regional District: About the CRD
- Statistics Canada: Capital census division (5917), 2021 list of areas
How the agency describes it: Capital Regional District (census division).
How we got it
This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own file.
Licence and credits
Published under an open licence: anyone may reuse it with credit. About licences.
- Updated by agency
- Annually; latest release Feb 26, 2026
- Retrieved
- Nov 11, 2026, 3:36 AM B.C. time
Spot a mistake?
Email [email protected]. Fixes are listed in the corrections log.