Fed up with waiting around, Victoria plans to push the province to provide more and better help for residents facing homelessness in the downtown.
“We are in a crisis. We are at risk of losing downtown – the economic engine of the region. I qualify that as an emergency,” Coun. Krista Loughton said during the June 26 committee meeting.
She penned the motion that will ask BC Housing to prioritize supportive housing and shelter spaces for people experiencing homelessness in Victoria’s downtown core and have city staff work with Island Health to assign a dedicated outreach support worker to work with the city’s relocation coordination team. The Island Health worker should have the ability to make referrals to treatment, complex care, and other health-care needs, to work in conjunction with the city’s relocation coordination team.
Currently, Victoria contracts outreach for people experiencing homelessness on a one-on-one basis to secure housing with the appropriate support. Since that work started in 2023, more than 40 people experiencing homelessness in Victoria have been housed, Loughton said.
She hopes to see BC Housing, through the provincial Coordinated Access and Assessment process, make Victoria a priority for 2025 “while we’re in this crisis situation.”
Loughton specifically referenced numbers presented by the Downtown Victoria Business Association earlier in the month. The DVBA annual report showed nearly half of those who responded to its annual survey said they would either not renew their leases or were undecided on renewing their leases. The survey also notes nearly 54 per cent of respondents gave downtown a letter grade of C+ or lower. In 2019, 5.2 per cent gave a D or F; this year 22 per cent gave a failing grade.
Coun. Marg Gardiner asked to specifically alter the motion to seek supportive housing “outside of Victoria.”
“I cannot support any more anchoring of the shelters and supportive housing that allows illicit drug use in our city in any way,” she said.
Loughton noted most of that form of housing in the region is in the city and “it’s not realistic” to limit those options. Ultimately, the table came to agree on “including outside of Victoria.”
Coun. Chris Coleman suggested the city needs to be “more crisp with our request,” by tasking the mayor with writing to the ministers of health and housing, requesting they direct their staff to prioritize the two Victoria asks. That passed muster at the table with Gardiner and Coun. Stephen Hammond opposed.
Decisions made at committee require ratification at council, which next meets July 3.
Find meeting agendas and how to participate online at victoria.ca.
