(Deep sigh)

It is once again time to actually use data to discuss where homeless people in Vancouver are from.

Here is the city's 2019 homeless count, showing the breakdown.

It's a clunky chart. Can anyone tell me why?

The percentages shown by the City of Vancouver in the 2019 homeless count only account for those who said they originally lived somewhere other than Vancouver.

It doesn't account for the 189 people that said they always lived in Vancouver, or the 1,400 or so who didn't say.

What we can say is that, of the 40% or so of the homeless people who responded:

- 80% had lived in Vancouver more than a year
- 81% of people said they already lived in Vancouver when they became homeless
- 34% of people had been homeless for less than a year

What can we infer from all that data?

Not as much as some might like!

You have to jump through a lot of hoops to make a grand conclusion of "where people are from" and how "worthy" they are, because of

a) sample size
b) not knowing individual circumstances

One final point.

In the 2016 Census, 11% of Vancouver residents said they moved here from somewhere else in Canada in the last 5 years.

It's always been a place where folks are coming and going from all walks of life.

The old nickname was "Terminal City" for a reason.