---
title: "Vancouver encampment sweeps linked to lower chances of finding housing, study finds"
description: "A study of 235 unhoused people in Vancouver found those whose belongings were taken by city workers were housed at a third of the rate of those who weren't."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/encampment-sweeps-housing-outcomes-study-vancouver-november-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-04T05:57:31.986Z"
---

When City workers take an unhoused person's belongings, that person finds housing at about a third the rate of someone whose belongings are left alone. When they are forced to move, the rate drops to less than a tenth.

That is the finding of a study published in September in *PLOS Medicine* and reported by ThinkPol on November 3. Researchers at the BC Centre on Substance Use and Simon Fraser University, led by Kanna Hayashi, followed 235 people who reported being homeless when they joined two long-running drug-use cohort studies in Vancouver. Participants were interviewed every six months between December 2021 and May 2025.

At each interview, participants were asked whether City workers, including engineering crews, park rangers and police, had taken their possessions in the past six months. From June 2023, participants were also asked whether they had been forced to leave a public space.

## What the numbers show

Over the full study period, 128 of the 235 participants moved into some form of housing. After accounting for age, gender, drug use, mental and physical health, income and other factors, people who had recently had their belongings taken found housing at about a third the rate of those who hadn't. The link was stronger for forced displacement: people who had been moved on found housing at less than a tenth the rate.

In 119 of the 121 recorded displacements, no housing was offered to the person being moved. Of the two who received an offer, one moved in. The other was told there was no space.

## Why sweeps may keep people homeless

The authors point to earlier research: sweeps can destroy identification documents needed to join a housing waitlist, cut people off from outreach workers, and erode trust in the workers trying to place them in housing. In earlier work with the same cohorts, 36 per cent of people whose belongings had been taken said they had tried and failed to access housing services in the same six months. The study was observational, so it shows an association, not proof of cause.

## The wider picture in Vancouver

Homelessness in the City of Vancouver rose 12 per cent between 2023 and 2025, to 2,715 people counted in the 2025 point-in-time count. Seven in ten of those who left homelessness moved into single-room occupancy hotels, which the authors note are known for poor conditions and high rates of unlawful eviction.

## What the new council has promised

Mayor [Pete Fry](/candidates/pete-fry) has promised expanded daytime shelters, drop-in spaces and secure storage for people experiencing homelessness. The Green Party of Vancouver platform also proposes shelter villages with private, locking cabins and on-site support, and a 24-hour non-police mobile response team for non-emergency calls involving people experiencing homelessness.

Residents can track those commitments at [/tracker](/tracker).

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