02/14/2026
🔹Homelessness in Capital dwarfs Metro Vancouver per-capita rate by 125%, VicPD chief says🔹
Following an address before the Capital’s Chamber of Commerce, the Chief of Victoria Police has clarified data mentioned before Chamber members, citing Capital Region’s homelessness ratio is in fact 125% higher than Metro Vancouver’s per-capita ratio. More from VicPD:
During remarks to the Vitoria Chamber of Commerce on Monday, February 10, Chief Wilson incorrectly quoted the Point-in-Time homelessness count.
The most reliable and publicly verifiable data are the regional results of the 2025 Point-in-Time counts, which present an accurate comparison between Greater Victoria and Greater Vancouver.
The 2025 Point-in-Time Count found that 1,749 people were experiencing homelessness across Greater Victoria, and 5,232 people were experiencing homelessness across Greater Vancouver.
On a per-capita basis, this equates to:
Approximately 3.8 people experiencing homelessness per 1,000 residents in Greater Victoria, and
Approximately 1.7 people experiencing homelessness per 1,000 residents in Greater Vancouver.
Based on these figures, Greater Victoria’s per-capita homelessness rate is approximately 2.2 times higher than Greater Vancouver’s when using the populations and regional geographies applied in the 2025 Point-in-Time counts.
Chief Wilson emphasized that, while Greater Victoria continues to experience a disproportionately high per-capita rate, there are signs of progress locally.
“VicPD believes strongly in working collaboratively with the City of Victoria and our community partners through the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan,” said Chief Wilson. “Those coordinated efforts are positively impacting outcomes in the city, even as we continue to face a high regional proportion of homelessness. Addressing this issue requires sustained partnership across housing, health, social services, and public safety, and we remain committed to that work.”