VANCOUVER—One of British Columbia’s largest non-profit employers says the housing crisis in Vancouver has gotten so bad it has created a staffing shortage for the very organizations that provide social housing.

As housing costs in the city remain unaffordable for many people, non-profits may even have to start offering staff housing for employees in order to attract workers, said Jennifer Breakspear, executive director of Portland Hotel Society.

Her organization employs nearly 750 people to operate dozens of supportive-housing projects. The non-profit, like many in the supportive-housing industry, is having trouble filling shifts on a daily basis, she said.

The society pays its staff at least the living wage — in Vancouver, that’s $20.91 per hour — but Breakspear said many employees still either commute to work from as far away as Mission or live in their vehicles. Breakspear said Portland Hotel Society has been in constant “hiring mode” since she started at the organization two years ago.

The “staffing crisis” has reached new heights in the last few months, she said. Many Portland Hotel Society buildings only have one person staffing on the weekends, even though two people is the standard.

“We are seeing it more and more … more than any of us are comfortable with,” said Breakspear.

In short, the housing affordability crisis has reached a point where Vancouver organizations are finding it hard to operate social-housing programs — the very thing people rely on when they can’t find housing.

The irony is not lost on Breakspear and others in the not-for-profit sector.

Janice Abbott, longtime CEO at Atira Women’s Resource Society, said there isn’t enough housing support for people who are not considered low-income and yet can’t afford to live in Vancouver.

“There has been a lot of focus, rightly so, on housing the most vulnerable. But we haven’t paid as much attention to folks who are earning $30,000 to $80,000 a year,” said Abbott.

Breakspear agreed.

“(The staff) are working to house the homeless and they are living in precarious housing themselves,” Breakspear said.

Charities in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are having a difficult time hiring as well.

It’s a “pervasive” issue among charities, and the last two years have been especially tough at the Union Gospel Mission, according to spokesperson Jeremy Hunka.

Union Gospel Mission and the University of British Columbia are set to release a report Thursday on homelessness and the affordability crisis.

“The cost of living in Metro Vancouver impacts our ability to both attract and retain staff right through the organization — right from custodial and maintenance through support workers and addictions counsellors,” Hunka said in an email.

And housing costs are not the only factor contributing to staffing issues.

For instance, more than 300 temporary modular housing units went online in recent months, and each building requires supportive-housing staff, Abbott pointed out. There will be 600 units in total by the beginning of 2019, according to the City of Vancouver.

Plus, working in supportive housing requires a specific skill set, Abbott said.

“I think the sheer number of jobs available is a contributing factor. We are all trying to hire the same people for these new supportive housing programs,” Abbott said.

And advocates in the Downtown Eastside have been raising awareness about the role of the opioid crisis for years. The deaths and overdoses have taken a toll on everyone working in social services, they say, and there aren’t enough workers to fill the spots left by employees who go on stress leave.

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Breakspear said it may be time for non-profits to partner with the public sector in order to provide housing for staff. The tourism industry already does this, she pointed out.

“We see this happening in tourism communities where they have to build housing for the staff who can otherwise not afford to live in a resort town,” she said.

“We now have to look at Vancouver this way.”

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