Unemployed Albertans inundate Vancouver homeless shelters

Unemployed Albertans moving west in search of work are flooding Vancouver's homeless shelters, says a social worker in that city's downtown eastside.

"As the downturn takes its toll, we've seen an increasing number in our shelter, coming to Vancouver looking to change their life," said Jeremy Hunka,a spokesperson with the Union Gospel Mission.

"They're forced to move, or they feel like they need to move because they just don't have the job opportunities."

The mission has seen a 50-per-cent increase in the number of patrons coming to the shelter from outside B.C.

Five to 15 per cent of the shelter beds are now filled by Albertans.

• Vancouver shelters overflow, mostly out-of-workAlbertans

Hunkasaidthetrend has continued to escalate since last fall, and has put a strain on shelter resources in a city with skyrocketing housing costs and a growing poverty gap.

Last July, the mission turned away 50 people. This July,that number has jumped to 150.

"It's a marked difference," Hunka said during a Tuesday interview on CBC Edmonton's Radio Active.

"And it's tough when you have more people coming to your shelter asking for help in turning things around."

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Hunka saidthe majority of Alberta clients are laid-off oilpatch or construction workers who have been lured to the city by the promise of work, only to realize competition for jobs is stiff, and the cost of living is crippling.

"Vancouver can be a real tough place if you don't have options," Hunka said.

"The price of rent is just surging, and when you end up here and you don't have a plan regardless of years of work at a good jobpeople are finding themselves in dire straits."

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Though most suchclients haven't been homeless for long, the struggle to get off the streets can be overwhelming without help.

Despite the steady stream of new arrivals,Hunkasaidmost of their Alberta clients have been housed within a matter of months.

"The silver lining is, most of the people that come from Alberta are not entrenched on the street. They're not entrenched in that lifestyle yet.

"They're high-functioning.They're ambitious. They want to work hard and better their life."