(Photo: Dieppe You Tube)

Dieppe Mayor Yvon Lapierre says there are now more homeless living in Dieppe.

“We’ve had an increase of 100% in 2022, so where we had about 20 hanging around downtown or in our industrial park, we estimate we now have around 40 to 45 people,” Lapierre says.

In a year-end interview, he adds they’re working with Moncton and Riverview to try and tackle the issue, ” We hope to be able to improve by giving full services, with the assistance we hope of the province of New Brunswick, whose basic responsibility it is. Obviously, we can’t ignore it.

Lapierre says Dieppe’s numbers are not as high as Moncton’s but it is still a growing concern.

A winter shelter recently opened on St. George Street recently opened in Moncton, with the hopes of serving those who don’t have a place to go during the winter months.

Social Development Minister Dorothy Shepherd recently estimated around 222 people living rough in the Hub City, based on numbers from three shelters.

In November, street-level outreach workers told Moncton City Council that there were more than 500 in the community.

With files from Allan Dearing