The findings of Cranbrook’s homelessness count have been released and it found 172 people were experiencing homelessness in the community.
That was up from 116 in 2023.
The count is not an exact number as it is conducted over one day and will not include some people that cycle in and out of homelessness.
The count found there were 109 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and 63 experiencing sheltered.
Unsheltered includes those who stayed outside in alleys, doorways, parkades, or parks
It also includes vehicles or those who were staying temporarily at someone else’s place, a hotel or with family in a temporary situation.
Sheltered includes anyone staying in homeless shelters, including transition houses and youth safe houses and people with no fixed address staying temporarily in hospitals, local holding cells and detox facilities.
The sheltered numbers would have changed since the count was conducted on April 14 as more shelter spaces have opened in the community.
The majority have been homeless for at least a year or more at 88 per cent, while 60 per cent have been in Cranbrook for five or more years and 29 per cent have lived here their whole lives.
Around 60 per cent of all respondents have co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges, 13 per cent have only substance use challenges, 13 per cent have only mental health challenges and 13 per cent have neither.
Forty per cent of respondents identified eviction as the most recent cause of housing loss and health challenge, relationship change, or eviction were the top three reasons for housing loss.
The full 2025 homelessness count can be found here.
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