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Vancouver homeless population may triple by 2010 – CTV News.

Vancouver’s homeless population is growing at such a fearsome rate that it could triple to 3,000 people by the time visitors arrive for the 2010 Olympic Games, says a report released by an advocacy group Thursday.

“Without immediate action, the estimated 2.3 million visitors who come to our city to see the Olympics will find a Vancouver in the midst of an urban epidemic of poverty,” said Pivot Legal Society spokesman David Eby as he released the report.

The burgeoning homeless population would be ”clear evidence of a broken commitment to address the impact of the 2010 Olympics,” Eby said.

When Vancouver bid for the 2010 games, federal, provincial and municipal governments pledged to protect the city’s rental housing and ensure no one would be left homeless because of the Games.

The city estimates that about 1,200 people currently sleep outside without shelter on a nightly basis.

“We have three years left,” Eby said. “Now is the time to grab those opportunities.”

Pivot, a non-profit group that develops advocacy campaigns for marginalized people, said the crisis can be averted if existing low-income housing is preserved or replaced. Between June of 2005 and June this year, the city lost more than 400 low-income rooms due to closings of hotels, conversions or rent increases.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan didn’t argue with the advocacy group’s findings.

“It’s a civic, and provincial and national shame,” Sullivan told CTV News. “We need to do better and I am working on some initiatives to work with the federal and provincial governments and even to bring in private sector funding.

“I’m committed to that,” Sullivan said.