In less than a decade, the number of Nanaimo's residents without homes has grown from 174 to 621, and over a third are Indigenous despite representing only eight per cent of the general population.
A 2024 point-in time homelessness count report was presented to Nanaimo city council at a meeting Monday, July 21.
"Our findings showed that [homelessness] is a direct and ongoing legacy of colonization," said Jon Rabeneck, report co-author. "Over one in three people we counted were identified as Indigenous despite [Statistics Canada] and the latest census in 2021 showing only eight per cent of Nanaimo's population being Indigenous. So that data point not being an anomaly, just being the predictable result of colonial policies, displacement, systemic racism and inter-generational trauma."
The tally of 621 was up from 515 in the 2023 count. Among the 621 people experiencing homelessness who were counted, 421 were considered to be "sleeping rough" including on the street, in encampments, vehicles or abandoned buildings, while the remainder, 154, were considered sheltered.
The count is conducted to estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single day; last year's count was done on Nov. 26. The count includes a survey directed at homeless individuals. The 2024 count was led by Snuneymuxw First Nation.
Rabeneck warned that 621 is a conservative minimum, rather than a catch-all. Those who make up Nanaimo's "hidden homelessness" include individuals staying with friends, family and acquaintances.
"These were folks who were engaged with the process itself, so to keep that in mind that this is a minimum of the homeless population here in Nanaimo," he said.
Three-quarters of people experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo reported addiction challenges, two-thirds reported a mental-health condition, and more than half live with a chronic medical condition. It was noted that co-occurrence of multiple conditions is the norm.
"This really emphasizes the need for culturally safe housing that embeds primary care, harm reduction and mental wellness supports. What we can see is people will keep cycling between sidewalk, ER and even the morgue, and problems will only compound if they are not addressed in an Indigenous led-way," said the presenter.
The most common reason unhoused individuals reported that they were homeless was a household conflict – eviction after a landlord, partner or family dispute – impacting 246 people. Rising costs were another reason that was commonly heard.
Fifty-four individuals report they lost housing due to racism or other bias. Indigenous respondents were disproportionately impacted by racism or other bias, as well as abuse and violence.
A total of 118 of homeless residents previously lived in foster care or group homes. Among them, 60 per cent are Indigenous, presenting an over-representation that Rabeneck said points to a "profound systemic failure."
"Further to this, over 30 per cent of respondents become homeless before the age of 25, confirming a linkage between aging out of care and ending up on the streets," he said.
The largest age and gender demographic is 35-39-year-old men, which accounted for 43 individuals, but the presenter warned the number of elders and young people are expanding.
The data also further debunked the myth that people experiencing homelessness in the city are newcomers to Nanaimo, with 152 respondents reporting they have always lived in Nanaimo, 147 reporting they've lived in the city for more than five years, and 35 for less than one year.
Following the presentation, Mayor Leonard Krog said that as a lawyer, for many years he has seen young people cycle through the foster system to repeat homes because of their challenges, "already on the road to ruin."
"It may be a physical issue, emotional, they're victims of abuse but they never get to stay for long because one foster parent gives up and passes them to another," he said. "This is a shocking suggestion but I'm beginning to think that some folks should be in what I would [call] – hate to use the term – an orphanage, but where there is at least consistent staff where they can form long-term relationships who work there, people who work in a loving and consistent environment where they don't feel abandoned on a constant basis."
Rabeneck declined to speak for Snuneymuxw leadership on solutions, but said he personally believes "direct intervention is required immediately to really step in and make a difference" and shared that he adopted his brother's son.
"You're really looking to this connections and these communities to step in and build those connections and have those strong foundations."
Marina White, the report's other author, identified a need for youth supports in a positive environment.
"I strongly believe in wraparound services, that we go to embrace families and to hold them up and to capture the resilience, and not move forward in a half-empty trauma-based response," she said. "What is the resilience, where is the brightness and build it from there, because our children need hope and they need light and we need to breathe joy and sunshine into them, and it's one step at a time."
