Police help B.C. senior find housing after 14 years on the street

Members of the Burnaby RCMP Police Mental Health and Outreach Team are seen in this photo shared with the news release. (Burnaby RCMP)

Mounties in Burnaby are touting the success of a specialized outreach unit after it was able to find shelter for a 71-year-old man who had been homeless for 14 years.

The Burnaby RCMP Police Mental Health and Outreach Team (PMHOT) first made contact with the man on Dec. 9, the detachment said in a news release Friday.

The team had been informed by Metro Vancouver park rangers about an unhoused person living in an encampment near the 3600 block of Kensington Avenue, according to police.

The encampment was down a “very overgrown” trail in Burnaby Lake Regional Park that was “challenging to navigate,” police said.

“When officers arrived, they were greeted by the lone resident, who was happy to see them and receptive to receiving support,” the release reads. “The man also asked for some time to organize his possessions before moving on.”

After that initial visit, the PMHOT contacted the City of Burnaby’s Intervention Support Team in hopes of finding the man housing.

“PMHOT officers re-attended the site early in the new year and provided the man with a warming kit containing cold-weather supplies and blankets while waiting for housing arrangements to be confirmed,” the release reads.

The teams finalized arrangements on Jan. 19 for the man to move into temporary housing, police said, adding that “further plans are in the works” to find him a permanent home.

“This is the kind of outcome our Police Mental Health and Outreach Team is continually working towards alongside our partners, and we are so happy this senior is no longer out in the cold,” said Insp. Amanda Harnett, a Burnaby RCMP community programs officer, in the release.

“It’s incredibly meaningful to see how someone’s life can be changed when they are able to get the support they need, and our collaboration with the city’s Intervention Support Team helps to make this possible.”

Graham de la Gorgendiere, the city’s general manager of community safety, was similarly effusive in his praise of the partnership, describing the PMHOT as “an incredibly important component” of Burnaby’s outreach efforts to homeless people in the community.

“Last year, our Intervention Support Team worked with more than 200 people and provided dozens of referrals to shelter and housing,” de la Gorgendiere said.

The PMHOT conducted 197 outreach visits in 2025, according to Burnaby RCMP.