Following is a letter to Burnaby residents from Mayor Mike Hurley
To suggest homelessness in our city and the problems associated with it can be solved overnight is not being realistic or understanding of the complex legal, practical and human challenges involved.
People have passionate feelings on this topic because it touches on two things that matter deeply to all of us: our humanity and public safety. Unfortunately, it is also a topic surrounded by a great deal of misinformation. Our solutions, however, must be grounded in reality. That means understanding the following four points:
1. We cannot legally remove people from parks and public spaces without having somewhere else for them to go
One of the biggest misconceptions about homelessness is that the City and our first responders can simply remove people from parks, sidewalks or encampments, either to somewhere else in Burnaby, or send them to another community. Even if that was an intended approach–legally, we cannot.
The reality facing our first responders today is far more complicated than many people realize. The courts in British Columbia have consistently ruled that we cannot stop people experiencing homelessness from sheltering in public spaces when adequate indoor shelter is unavailable.
That legal reality exists because the courts recognized that a person cannot be expected to leave a park, green space or encampment if there is nowhere else for them to sleep safely. Telling someone to move does not solve homelessness. It simply moves the problem from one location to another.
Many first responder calls involving people experiencing homelessness occur on provincial land, private property, rail corridors or other locations that fall outside the City's direct control or authority. In these situations, municipalities cannot simply intervene on our own and we must work with property owners, provincial agencies and other partners, which can make a quick resolution even more difficult.
The Province has explored legislative changes related to encampment management in recent years, but the core legal principle established by the courts remains the same: we cannot displace people from public spaces when there is no realistic alternative shelter space available to them.
2. Alternative shelter spaces must be located near the services vulnerable residents need
So if we want fewer people living in parks, green spaces and encampments, we need safe alternative shelter and housing options within our own community. Because in reality, no municipality is volunteering to absorb another city's homeless population.
Those shelter spaces and supportive housing must be located where people can reasonably access health care, mental health supports, addiction treatment, income assistance, outreach services and public transit. These are the resources that help vulnerable residents stabilize their lives and ultimately move toward permanent housing.
Of course, not every location with this access is appropriate. Community safety concerns are often legitimate and should be part of the decision-making process when shelter and supportive housing locations are being considered. However, opposing every proposed shelter or supportive housing project while demanding immediate action on homelessness and green spaces is not being realistic.
Tough decisions often have to be made. The temporary shelter at 7320 Buller Avenue is a good example. The City remains committed to taking down the shelter and building the Buller Beresford Park that was planned, and that will happen when the current lease expires in 2028.
However, the reality is there is little point building new parks if we have not addressed the reasons people are sleeping in them. That is why a winter shelter was first opened on the site in 2022, before transitioning to the year-round, 24/7 shelter funded through BC Housing and operated by Progressive Housing Society.
The goal is not choosing shelter space over parks or vice versa. The goal is helping to find enough shelter space so that vulnerable residents can be indoors, allowing parks and future parks to serve the purpose they were intended for. It is a balancing act.
3. BC Housing is responsible for funding and building shelters and supportive housing
Another common misconception is that municipalities build and operate shelters and supportive housing. We do not.
In British Columbia, the primary responsibility for building, funding and operating shelters, supportive housing and many homelessness programs rests with BC Housing, often working in partnership with health authorities such as Fraser Health and non-profit operators.
As a municipality, we advocate for local needs, concerns and insights, and, where appropriate, make City land available to support appropriate projects.
Is the current system perfect? No. But from a municipal perspective, the reality is that there is currently no alternative system available to us. If a city wants and needs people moved out of encampments and into safer indoor spaces, the only practical pathway available today is through the shelter, supportive housing and health-care models established by BC Housing and Fraser Health.
Burnaby has stepped in to support our community partners and help protect vulnerable residents through Emergency Warming Centres and Extreme Weather Response shelter spaces. However, we do not have the mandate, funding or resources to create and operate a separate homelessness response system of our own.
4. We have a duty to protect all residents of Burnaby. Every person in Burnaby deserves dignity and respect
Everyone is someone’s brother, sister, son, daughter, parent or grandparent and those values are at the core of who we are as a community.
The sad reality is that homelessness has been rising across the country, province and region for years. Across Metro Vancouver, homelessness has increased by 141 per cent over the past two decades, reaching a record 5,232 people in the 2025 homelessness count.
In Burnaby, the most recent count identified 205 people experiencing homelessness, including 97 people living unsheltered. While Burnaby's numbers have remained relatively stable since 2023, they increased by almost 70 per cent in the three years before that.
The vulnerability, isolation, uncertainty and desperation that often comes with homelessness can lead to or worsen existing mental health and substance-use challenges. The longer someone remains unhoused, the harder it often becomes to break that cycle and rebuild a stable life.
However there is a great deal of misinformation about who becomes homeless and why. Addiction and mental health challenges are part of the picture, but they are not the whole story. Poverty is the single biggest root cause that must be addressed. In the 2025 Metro Vancouver Homeless Count, 42 per cent of respondents reported being evicted from their previous housing.
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There is also a growing number of seniors in our city who are experiencing homelessness, and we are hearing from our partners at the Confederation Seniors Centre that many of these are sheltering in their cars. It is so important we challenge stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness. To address the affordable housing problem we need all orders of government to work together to deliver locally informed solutions which work for the people of Burnaby.
Research from BC and across Canada has also found that people experiencing homelessness are disproportionately victims of violence and crime, often experiencing victimization at rates far higher than the general population and, in many cases, being more likely to experience violence than perpetrate it.
While homelessness services are primarily a provincial responsibility, Burnaby has stepped up to help fill the gap.
The City's Intervention Support Team and organizations such as the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby do tremendous work every day, from outreach, encampment response and site cleanups to connecting vulnerable residents with housing, healthcare, income assistance and other critical support services.
Honesty, compassion and collaboration
Ultimately, lasting change will require all levels of government to come together and address this challenge from root to branch—from ensuring we have enough shelter and supportive housing capacity in locations that are appropriate and provide access to the services and supports people need, to addressing the poverty and housing affordability issues that push people into homelessness, while improving access to the effective mental health and addiction services that rebuild stable lives.
We need to listen to those with lived experience, trust the expertise of those working on the front-lines, work with our concerned residents and focus on solutions grounded in reality.
Homelessness will not be solved overnight, but with honesty, compassion and collaboration, we can make meaningful progress now.
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