To be eligible for supportive housing in Vancouver, an applicant’s needs must qualify as urgent, high or moderate, with priority based on meeting the most urgent needs first.

Urgent priority means: health and safety is at extreme risk.

The applicant cannot ensure their own health and safety. For example, someone refuses health care; encounters high risk, harmful situations; or is not meeting their basic living needs for food, clothing, shelter or income. Causes can include mental illness, organic brain conditions, or acute addiction.
The applicant lives in public spaces, shelters, SROs, or has no fixed address.
The applicant has been discharged from a hospital, treatment facility, program, institution or jail.

High priority means: onsite housing support is required to maintain health and housing.

The applicant has complex health and social needs, such as a mental or physical illness, disability and/or substance use, and needs support to stabilize the condition.
The applicant has difficulty establishing housing stability, such as extreme shelter use and/or living in public spaces for more than a year.

Moderate priority means: supportive housing would be beneficial.

The applicant has health/social needs that would benefit from onsite support, but needs a lower level of support, and may have some external supports.
The applicant is living in private housing like an SRO, and is mostly able to achieve housing stability, but may have used a shelter a few times in the last year, or spent a brief period living in public spaces.