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At age 16, Dylan Cohen experienced homelessness for the first time.

He was living in Manitoba and had been in foster care for three years before “inadequate” foster placements pushed him to homelessness.

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“It was traumatizing,” he said of the experience, which saw him couch surfing and staying in shelters. “I was without my family. I was without my sister. I was completely away from my community.”

Cohen, who is now 23 and a youth organizer with Fostering Change, is not alone.

According to the results of the first-ever youth homeless count conducted in Metro Vancouver, which were released on Thursday, at least 681 young people are experiencing homelessness across the region.

Two-thirds of respondents, like Cohen, ended up homeless for the first time at age 16.

Photo by RICHARD LAM / PNG

The count was conducted by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association on behalf of Metro Vancouver over nine days in April. Data was gathered through surveys conducted at youth centres, high schools and shelters, and through client spreadsheets filled out by youth service providers.