In housing crisis, Tofino hospital being used as emergency shelter

The affordable-housing crisis in Tofino is so desperate that people are using the hospital as an emergency shelter, says a doctor at Tofino General Hospital.

It’s a problem that highlights the popular vacation destination’s hidden population of people who are struggling to find a decent place to live, said Mayor Josie Osborne.

Dr. Carrie Marshall told Tofino councillors that it’s becoming increasingly common for transient people or those with no fixed address to ask to spend the night at Tofino General Hospital because they have nowhere else to go.

“We have patients that come in that we are providing accommodation for, essentially, and food. There’s no medical need; we admit them for social reasons,” Marshall said at a council meeting.

“We are increasingly getting more and more patients that there’s literally nowhere for them to go.”

The hospital is serving as a de facto detox facility, Marshall said, because the nearest addiction service centres are in Port Alberni and Nanaimo.

Osborne said lack of affordable housing has long been clear, but until Marshall raised the alarm, councillors were unaware the problem was spilling into the hospital.

While there are few people sleeping in doorways or on benches in Tofino, people are living in “informal conditions” such as in vans, RVs or friends’ couches, Osborne told the Times Colonist.

As a semi-rural and remote community, Tofino has neither a homeless shelter nor the social support services of larger communities, Osborne said.

“Everyone is doing the best that they can with the limited resources we have available.”

The housing crunch is also being felt by people who are working in the tourism industry and struggling to find affordable accommodation, she said.

“The housing problem is not limited to long-term residents, but seasonal residents who come in and are part of the economic engine that fuels the tourism industry.”

Tofino’s population of 2,000 swells during the high season and low-paid workers are often competing with well-heeled tourists for accommodation that’s in short supply. Many long-term rentals have been converted into Airbnb vacation rentals, which has drastically reduced the vacancy rate, Osborne said.

Last year, the District of Tofino received $500,000 from the province’s rural dividend fund to design the first phase of a 50-unit affordable-housing project, a partnership between the Tofino Bible Fellowship and Tofino Housing Corporation.

However, the district is still working on the application to B.C. Housing for construction funds, which means it will likely be years until the units are ready to live in.

The provincial government has promised to spend $7 billion on affordable housing over the next decade, but it’s up to municipalities to provide the land.

Tofino council has been in contact with B.C. Housing, but the municipality hasn’t been “ready to take advantage of funding opportunities,” Osborne said.

The district must first ensure the infrastructure and engineering work is in place as it plans for affordable housing, she said.

“I hope that this time next year, I’ll be able to say we’ve received funding from B.C. Housing.”