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Cranbrook, BC (March 14, 2024) – Members of the Cranbrook RCMP detachment, the City’s Bylaw Services team, and the Social Development Coordinator have worked together continuously through the winter months to provide monitoring and engagement with the temporary outdoor living sites across Cranbrook. Weekly visits to sites to clean, ensure compliance, complete wellness checks, provide connection to services, and build relationships have been ongoing and will continue with the warming weather. 

Cranbrook did see a considerable decline in the number of persons living unhoused with the arrival of the winter weather. However, It is predicted that as the weather warms, persons living in precarious and unsafe housing situations will return to temporary shelters, like tents, and the number of visibly homeless will rapidly increase.

Outdoor sheltering sites are a physical manifestation of the breakdown of one of many factors affecting the housing continuum in Cranbrook. Over the past few years, the community has lost a significant number of low-barrier and low-income rental options.  This has left a significant gap in housing options and exacerbated the local housing crisis. 

However, lessons have been learned over the past years and collaboration between agencies and organizations is ongoing to provide support for those living in temporary shelters and create pathways out of poverty and homelessness.

New and innovative initiatives to monitor and maintain these sites, in collaboration with other social agencies in town, will build safety and accountability and will help address secondary issues related to poverty such as crime mental health and drug abuse, will increase community safety and well-being, and will continue to make Cranbrook a trailblazer in managing very complex issues in a positive way.