People without a home during the year
Area: Capital Region Calendar year 2024 · Where this covers
What it measures
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.
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.
Over time
How we decided “getting worse”
A lower number means fewer people went through homelessness during the year. 2,531 in 2024 compared with 2,389 in 2023 (+5.9%). The rules.
Source
- Period
- Calendar year 2024
- Updated by agency
- Annually; latest release Feb 26, 2026
- Retrieved
- Nov 10, 2026, 11:52 PM B.C. time
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2,531 |
| 2023 | 2,389 |
| 2022 | 2,189 |
| 2021 | 2,047 |
| 2020 | 2,038 |
| 2019 | 1,943 |
Keep in mind
- 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.
Where this covers
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).
Connected to: Provincial (shelter funding and income assistance), Municipal and regional (land use and services). This is a label, not a judgement.