Image: An undated photo of an encampment around Abbotsford City Hall. / City of Abbotsford

By Alyssa Conti

HOMELESS PIT COUNT

Over 400 homeless found in latest Abbotsford PIT count, up 14.5% from 2023

Jun 22, 2025 | 9:44 AM

ABBOTSFORD — The City of Abbotsford has released the results of its first city-led Point-in-Time (PiT) Count, conducted last fall, and the numbers show that the homeless population has gone up from the previous year.

For 20 years, the Fraser Valley Regional District led PiT counts in Abbotsford to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness across the region. From October 8 to 9, 2024, the City held its first local Count in partnership with Mennonite Central Committee BC, local service providers and individuals with lived experience. Some key findings from the Count include:

• 465 identified as experiencing homelessness—an increase of 14.5 per cent from the 2023 FVRD count and more than double the first PiT count in 2004.
• Half of the respondents were between the ages of 30 and 49, and 17 per cent were 60 or older.
• Two-thirds have been homeless for more than a year.
• 97 per cent reported at least one health-related challenge; 54 per cent also had mental health and substance use disorders.
• 197 of 210 shelter beds in Abbotsford were occupied at the time of the count.

Figures have increased steadily since 2012, when the PiT count found 117 people identified as homeless.

“Homelessness and the risk of homelessness is a complex issue and remains a growing concern in Abbotsford,” said Ross Siemens, Mayor of Abbotsford. “Behind every number is a person, and the information gathered through this count helps us to better understand and respond to the needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our community.”

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Municipal property taxes do not fund housing and mental health initiatives, but the City works with community partners and other levels of government to fund initiatives like new temporary shelter spaces, supportive housing projects and Abbotsford ACCESS– a network of key housing and social service partners to address homelessness-related issues locally.

Abbotsford’s 2024 PiT Count was fully funded through the Government of Canada’s Reaching Home program. More information is available through the City’s website.