iN NUMBERS: Homeless shelter capacity in Kamloops, Okanagan can’t keep up

Kamloops and cities in the Okanagan have been building more shelter beds and transitional housing over the past five years, but the number of homeless people is growing faster than shelter beds are being added.

Point-in-time counts for homeless populations aren’t exact, but they’re generally the best way to figure out how many people are unhoused.

Here are the numbers:

• 179: Transitional housing beds in Kelowna in 2025, including STEP Place, Balsam Place and Trailside Transitional Housing.
• 298: Temporary shelter beds in Kelowna, which is up from 90 in 2020.
• 15: Shelter beds were open in Kelowna as of Oct. 23.
• 582: People in Kelowna experienced homelessness in 2024, which is up 96 per cent since 2020, according to the Central Okanagan Foundation’s point-in-time count.
• 42: Temporary shelter beds are currently available in West Kelowna at the facility at 2515 Bartley Court.
• 313: People in Kamloops are unhoused, according to the city’s 2024 point-in-time count.
• 234: Temporary shelter beds are currently available in Kamloops.
• 55: Emergency shelter beds were available in Kamloops in 2020, according to Statistics Canada.
• 194: People are experiencing homelessness in Penticton in 2025. That’s an 80 per cent increase since 2018.
• 116: Out of the 194 homeless people in Penticton had some form of shelter, including homeless shelters, hospitals and detox centres.
• 199: People were homeless in Vernon in 2025, which is up roughly 24 per cent since 2018.
• 114: Out of the 199 homeless people in Vernon had some form of shelter, including homeless shelters, hospitals and detox centres.