Surrey Community Profile
1.
Geographic, demographic, and
economic information
·
Incorporated
in 1879, Surrey has a total area of 37,140 ha. The district lies between Delta
on the west and Langley on the east. By highway the western boundary is 23 km east
of Vancouver center. Surrey is in the Greater Vancouver Regional District
(GVRD).
·
The
three industries employing the most people in this area in 1996 were
manufacturing, retail trade and construction.
·
Surrey
consists of seven districts as follows:
Whalley (pop.76,800); Guildford (pop.46,700); Fleetwood (pop.39,900); Newton (pop 79,900); Cloverdale (pop.28,200) in the north and South Surrey White Rock (pop.51,600) in the south.
2. Key characteristics of
area are as follows:
·
Surrey
has maintained its status as the fastest growing major city in Canada for both
the 1991 and 1996 census (2001 census results unavailable).
·
The
projected population of Surrey for 2001 is 344,000.
·
Surrey
has generally a young and mobile population with nearly 60% of the city's
people moving at least once between 1991-1996.
·
The
two distinctive social features of Surrey are its large youth and immigrants
populations. Visible minority ethnic groups now make up approximately 28.8% of
the City's population South Asian (primarily Indo Canadian at 57%) and Chinese
(15%). Newton has the largest ethnic population 41.8% followed by Whalley at
35.7%
·
The
Surrey School district is the fastest growing in the Lower Mainland and the
largest in the province.
3.
Main Social issues of Surrey
Community
·
Poverty
·
Homelessness
and affordable housing
·
At
risk youth
·
Poor
single parents
·
Drugs
and alcohol
·
Drug
related crime, including prostitution and violence.
3.1 Poverty
·
Surrey's
unemployment rate (1996) was 10.4%
·
Number
of families living below low income cutoffs 18.8% and unattached individuals
41.9%
·
In
May 2001, the Ministry of Human Resources: BC Benefits stats for offices with
Surrey addresses reported a total of 13,746 BC Benefits cases representing
24,257 BC Benefits recipients. During May 2001 the Ministry of Human Resources:
BC Benefits stats for Region 4: Surrey District (Surrey, White Rock, Delta and
Langley) reported a total of 17,945 cases representing 30,861 recipients.
·
The
poorest districts of Surrey are in North Surrey: Whalley, Guildford and
Newton
3.2
Homelessness and affordable housing
·
Homelessness
was identified as the number one priority issue with respect to poverty by
service providers in Surrey (1999)
·
Sheena's
Place, a shelter for single women with mental health issues, turned away 1,245
women and children in 2000.
·
There
are only 20 Homeless At Risk Housing units for single persons in South Fraser
compared with 455 in Vancouver.
·
There
is only one housing project in the South Fraser Region for frail elderly.
· In 1996 Surrey had a higher percentage of renters paying 30% or more of their income on rent than any other municipality in the Greater Vancouver Regional District
·
5.5%
of Surrey rental housing takes the form
oof non-market units managed by government or non-profit societies
·
1,000
Surrey households are on BC Housing waitlists
·
Only
131 for profit rental housing units were built in Surrey between 1991 and 1999
·
There
may be as many as 24,000 unauthorized ground floor secondary suites in Surrey
3.3 At Risk Youth
·
There
is no place in Surrey at present for youth aged 17 and 18 who are out of the
home and on Income Assistance but who are not in the criminal justice system or
do not have diagnosed psychiatric issues.
·
RCMP
staff who deal with young offenders see more impoverished youth, with parents
who are on welfare, or involved in alcohol and drugs, in Surrey City center
than in Guilford.
·
Local
youth workers say the youth they see with addictions are getting younger,
dropping in age to as young as 12 years of age as opposed to from around 18 yrs
three decades ago.
·
A
local service worker reports seeing younger aged youth involved in
prostitution. Where as they used to be
in their 20's or 30's they are now 15-16 year olds.
·
Another
service worker believes that some areas in Surrey appear to be major target
area for pimps with well-developed recruitment strategies that prey on
individuals in Surrey.
·
Socially
isolated situations and are targeting Aboriginal, Indo-Canadian, and Chinese
women, both in and out of high school.
3.3a Teen moms
·
In
1999 Surrey Local health Area had the highest number of births to teenage
mothers in Greater Vancouver.
·
The
South Fraser Health region is the only one in the Lower Mainland which does not
fund birth control for adolescents and the School Districts' policy does not
teach sex education.
3.4 Lone parent
families
·
Single
parent families led by women are among the poorest in our society.
·
There
were 11,585 single parent families led by women in Surrey (1996).
·
Almost
one-half of all lone parent families in Surrey live in the Whalley-Guilford
area.
·
In
1999, the average income for a female lone-parent family living in Surrey was
$25,876 ($29,000 lower than the average Surrey family income).
·
Lone
parent mothers under 25 face the highest risk of poverty.
·
While
lone parents in Surrey generally have education levels similar to the
population as a whole, Whalley has a higher number of lone parents with less
than high school education.
·
In
BC (1996) one-third of all Aboriginal families were lone-parent.
·
A
1998 report noted that a staggering 79% of native children who live in GVRD are
growing up in families that fall below the poverty line. (from GVRD 1998)
·
In
1995, 27% of Surrey's children below the age of 15 were in families living
below the low-income cutoffs established by Statistics Canada.
3.5 Drugs and Alcohol
·
The
skytrain has helped imported drugs as well as passengers to north Surrey.
·
At
present there is a severe lack of detox beds across the whole of the South
Fraser valley. There are none at present in Surrey.
·
There
are currently no detox (four to five-day) or longer term (30 days to six
months) residential treatment beds available in Surrey for youth.
3.6 Drug related crime,
including prostitution and violence.
4. Characteristics Specific to Advocacy Work
·
A
recent report cites the "Continuing high number of women [in Surrey}
living in poverty and requiring additional community resources and support
(e.g. advocacy with ministries, particularly around child custody issues)
especially single mothers." From
Lone Parent Profile for Surrey, White Rock and Delta.
·
The
Hidden Population:" One result of
these changes to Income Assistance and Employment Insurance, according to a
number of individuals consulted for this report, is a greater number of people
falling through the cracks and even pushed into dire emergency situations
because of tightened eligibility requirements. The reality is that no one really
knows what happens to these people, whether they are living on the streets or
resorting to crime in order to survive."
From Whalley/Guilford: A Report on Social Issues and
Initiatives in Surrey, BC. Pp. 19
·
Between
1994 and 1999 there was a 55.9% reduction in youth below age 25 receiving
Benefits. Of these 85.9% was a reduction in benefits for unemployable. While some of the previous youth recipients
may have moved to other provinces or found work here, there are many youth
unaccounted for and at risk of homelessness and criminal or drug related
activity. From Whalley/Guilford: A Report on Social Issues and
Initiatives in Surrey, BC. Pp34
Resources:
Stubbs, Mayling and Jeffrey Wong. Lone Parent Profile for Surrey, White Rock and Delta. Human Resources Centre of Canada, 1999. (Executive summary on file) http://www.bc.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/surrey (Link to Labour Market Information.)
Surrey Social Futures, Community Impact Profile for Surrey/White Rock. Surrey BC. May 2000. (Summary of key and related findings on file)
Available on-line through the Surrey Public Library Web site at http://www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/CommunityInfo/CommunityImpactProfile/defaultpage.htm
Surrey Social Futures, Whalley/Guilford: A Report on Social Issues and Initiatives in Surrey, BC. March 2001. (Summary of key finding on file) Available on-line through the Surrey Public Library Web site at http://www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/CommunityInfo/Default.htm
BC Benefits Case Load Surrey District Region 4; (Surrey, Delta, White Rock, Langley) May 2001
Note: The following BC Benefits statistic were supplied by the BC Provincial Ministry of Human Resources: Communications Division. The chart below represents the greater Surrey District and includes BC Benefits Statistics for Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley City for the month of May 2001.
The BC Benefits offices located in the City of Surrey include Ministry of Human Resources offices 441, 443, 444, 448,452,455 and 457.
|
Offices |
Office 441- River Heights 13777 103 Ave., Surrey, BC |
Office 442 105 795 Scott Rd. Delta, BC |
Office 443 Scottsview
9360 120th St, Surrey ,BC |
Office 444 Whalley's Corner 101, 10095 136A St. Surrey, BC |
Office 448 Surrey/Delta 10040 King George Hwy. Surrey,BC |
Office 451101- 1456 Johnston Rd White Rock BC |
Office 452 Fleetwood 101, 16088 84th Avenue
Surrey BC |
Office 453 Langley 101 5753 Glover Rd Langley, BC |
Office 455 Guildford 14672 108A
Avenue Surrey BC |
Office 457 130, 13749 72nd Ave, Surrey, BC |
Totals Region 4 |
|
Cases By Program |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
601 |
|
Age 60 to 64 |
118 |
18 |
143 |
|
|
49 |
|
97 |
72 |
109 |
513 CHIR |
|
CIHR |
125 |
|
148 |
|
|
34 |
12 |
80 |
101 |
25 seniors only |
306 Seniors 4,490 Disabled |
|
Seniors and Disabled |
77 |
266 |
125 |
|
|
479 |
17 |
20+755 |
65 |
3211 CHIR and Disabled |
|
|
Under Age 19 |
16 |
|
|
122* |
|
|
|
15 |
|
|
178 |
|
Welfare to Work |
2092 |
266 |
2342 |
353 |
30 |
600 |
274 |
1347 |
1612 |
945 |
9857 |
|
Youth Works |
178 |
24* |
229* |
958 |
17* |
100* |
16* |
315 |
162* |
52 |
2000 |
|
Total Cases |
2,606 |
308 |
2,987 |
1,433 |
47 |
1,262 |
319 |
2,629 |
2,012 |
4,342 |
17,945 |
|
Total Recipients |
5,449 |
569 |
6,378 |
1,866 |
62 |
1,741 |
523 |
4,294 |
4,349 |
5,630 |
30,861 |
*Office 442 Youth Works includes Youth Works, Under 19 and CIHR cases
*Office 443 Youth Works includes Youth Works and Under 19 cases
*Office 444 Under Age 19 includes Under 19 and CIHR cases
*Office 448 - Youth Works includes Youth Works and Disabled cases
*Office 451 Youth Works includes Youth Works and Under 19 cases
*Office 452 Youth Works includes Youth works and Under 19 cases
*Office 455 - Youth works includes Youth works and Under 19 case