Outreach workers and advocates on Vancouver Island say a prolonged series of fall storms is making it difficult for people living outdoors to stay safe and dry.
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Outreach workers and advocates for people experiencing homelessness on Vancouver Island say wet, windy weather from fall storms is creating added risks for people living rough, especially in communities with limited or no additional shelter space for winter.
Shayla Day, founder of the Day Homes Society in the Oceanside region, said the rain and cold can affect both mental and physical health when someone’s boots, clothes or bedding become wet. “The rain wears people down. And when your boots, clothes or bedding are wet, you spend so much energy just trying to stay warm and keep a few things dry,” Day said.
Day said the 2025 Point in Time Homeless Count found nearly 100 people experiencing homelessness in the Parksville-Qualicum area, most of them without shelter.
She also said there are currently no emergency shelters in Oceanside, including Parksville, Qualicum Beach and some surrounding communities in the Regional District of Nanaimo. The district provides an emergency weather warming centre that is activated when temperatures hit -4 C or if it’s 0 C with a weather warning in place within 24 hours, but Day said it was activated only twice last winter.
Day Homes had been working to secure a temporary winter shelter for the region, but the efforts were scrapped after municipal elections across B.C. interrupted the process.
Further up the island, Campbell River is also without an additional winter shelter this year, a situation that has been in place since the previous winter shelter was shut down in 2025 to make way for a city-owned development downtown. Barbara Lippke, a former support worker and volunteer who helps to feed people at Spirit Square on weekends, said trench foot—also known as immersion foot syndrome—is a common problem at this time of year because people can’t get dry.
Lippke said, “At the very least, we should have a warming centre where people can connect with resources. You know, get wound care, get dry, have a meal, have a cup of coffee.”
The Salvation Army in Campbell River operates a year-round shelter with about 22 beds. Lippke said that number does not meet the needs of more than 150 homeless people in the community, and she said the shelter’s indoor hot meal service is not offered on weekends or holidays—something she and others have addressed by offering food outdoors at Spirit Square.
Lippke said the city also has nine beds at a sobering and assessment centre and that it offers an emergency warming centre when conditions arise.
In a written statement, the City of Campbell River said it provides two locations for overnight sheltering: one year-round at city hall and another area at an oceanside park during winter. The city said the designated sites provide managed locations for safe, temporary overnight sheltering and help the city meet its legal requirements for providing a designated space for overnight shelter, and that each location has a port-a-loo and access to water.
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