Homeless Count Tables - City of Prince George

Executive Summary
Prince George Homeless Count Report 2010
On May 16 th and 17 th of 2010, the Community Partners Addressing Homelessness (CPAH) conducted a 24
hour Homeless Count in the City of Prince George, British Columbia. This was the second ever Homeless
Count taking place in Prince George. Funding for the count was provided by the Homeless Partnership
Initiative (HPI), a national initiative by the Government of Canada designed to prevent and reduce
homelessness in Canada. Key goals of the initiative are to enable designated communities to address key
issues related to homelessness through a community-based process and to empower communities to
monitor the effectiveness and success of their homeless services and programs 1 .
The 2010 Homeless Count was conducted with the help of over 50 volunteers, as well as various service
agencies and organizations. This report provides a brief background on the Prince George Homeless
Count, the Count methodology and a summary of the results. Some key findings of the 2010 Homeless
Count include:
o 361 homeless individuals participated in the survey, compared to 375 in 2008.
o Out of 361 participating individuals, 65% were male and 34% were female.
o 19% of the participants had participated in a previous Prince George Homeless Count.
o 85% of participants considered Prince George to be their home community.
o 3% (11 participants) had slept outdoors the night prior to the count.
o 66% of the participants self-identified as being of Aboriginal descent.
o Male participants were significantly more likely to be older than female participants; the median
was 44 years.
o Aboriginal participants were significantly more likely to be younger than non-Aboriginal
participants.
o The majority of participants (60%) had stayed most frequently at a safe house/emergency
shelter or transitional housing over the last year.
o The majority (55%) of homeless participants identified income assistance as their source of
income, followed by disability benefits (30%) and collecting bottles (19%).
o 30% of respondents suffered from three or more health conditions.
1 Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2008) Homelessness Partnership Initiative. Accessed Aug 3,
2010 from http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/homelessness/partnership_initiative/index.shtml.
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