They pounded the pavement and checked out the hidden spots in the centre of the city and its far-flung regions Wednesday.
About 50 volunteers took part in Metro Vancouver's homeless count all day Wednesday, as well as Tuesday night.
Shawn Matthewson, social planning analyst with the City of Maple Ridge, was part of the early shift on Wednesday, having volunteered in the three previous counts.
Metro Vancouver conducts a count throughout the region on the same day every three years in order to get an up-to-date idea of the issue. During the homeless count conducted in 2014, 84 people were counted as homeless in Maple Ridge.
Despite the snow and cold weather and with volunteers searching farther this year, Matthewson said the homelessness situation seems similar to that from three years ago.
"I think it's really not that much different."
Volunteers this year went as far east 240th and 276th streets, while another group surveyed the areas down by the Fraser River and CP Railway tracks.
However, few homeless people were found in those locations.
Despite the expanded area searched, Matthewson said numbers from this year will still be comparable to the last survey.
Earlier on Tuesday night, volunteers also visited homeless shelters, hospitals and prisons to count people inside. Being counted is voluntary however, and involves a short Q and A session asking questions such as for how long people have been homeless, what kind of services they access and whether they're First Nations, RCMP or armed services veterans.
Police and military veterans draw particular attention of those dealing with homelessness. "There clearly is a concern that folks who are leaving the services are at risk," Matthewson said.
Insufficient income and lack of housing affordability are two major causes of homelessness.
"Everyone has a story that has brought them to where they are," said Mattewson.
"It's really hard for people to afford a place to live."
Mayor Nicole Read said homelessness remains a high-profile issue as the May B.C. election approaches.
Metro Vancouver's homelessness task force, which Read co-chairs, noted in its February report that 4,000 people are now homeless in the region.
Read said the provincial government isn't taking a systematic, evidence-based approach to the issue.
"Just because you spend money, it doesn't mean you're putting things in a proper direction. We've got tent cities all around Metro Vancouver."
She said people should question if the government is making good use of its money and doubts whether the government is actually tracking the effects of its spending and housing policies.
The final data won’t be available until April, but Peer-Daniel Krause, the policy manager of the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association, says there have been no surprises so far.
Compared to 4,000 now said to be with no place to live, the 2014 count found that there were 2,777 homeless people in Metro Vancouver.
Read said the cold weather brought many people inside which should result in better quality survey results. Many women and children couch-surf which means they're not part of the count, she added.
She added that if the Quality Inn had been converted to a 60-bed supportive housing building, the numbers of homeless people in Maple Ridge would be lower.
The Quality Inn and another site farther west along Lougheed Highway were both rejected by the government and MLAs Doug Bing and Marc Dalton in 2016 as shelter locations, after public outcry.
"Our homeless numbers would have been dramatically improved had we opened the Quality Inn," Read said.