Police and City of Burnaby staff work together to get an unhoused senior out of the weeds and into a safer shelter. (Image Credit: Burnaby RCMP)

By Alyssa Conti

Out of the Woods

Mounties help unhoused Burnaby senior find shelter after 14 years

Jan 31, 2026 | 8:45 AM

BURNABY — Burnaby RCMP has recently worked with the City of Burnaby to help house a local senior who had been living homeless for over a decade.

On December 9, 2025, Police Mental Health and Outreach Team (PMHOT) officers visited an encampment near the 3600 block of Kensington Avenue after Metro Vancouver Park Rangers shared a tip about an unhoused person living in the area.

Police say the trail leading to the encampment was “challenging” and “very overgrown” with vegetation. 

Officers then found the sole resident, who was happy to see them and open to getting support. The man reportedly asked for time to organize his things before moving on.

PMHOT re-attended the site early in the new year and gave the man a warming kit with cold-weather supplies and blankets while waiting for the City’s Intervention Support Team to confirm housing arrangements.

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By January 19, the man was able to move out of the encampment into temporary housing. 

“We are so happy this senior is no longer out in the cold,” said Community Programs Officer Inspector Amanda Harnett. “It’s incredibly meaningful to see how someone’s life can be changed when they are able to get the support they need, and our collaboration with the City’s Intervention Support Team helps to make this possible.”

Further plans are underway to find a more permanent housing solution for the man.

In 2025, the Intervention Support Team worked with more than 200 people and offered “dozens” of referrals to shelter and housing, according to Graham de la Gorgendiere, general manager of community safety with the City of Burnaby.