A Vancouver BC problem, too. Really, it's a problem with any city that has better support for disadvantaged populations (homeless, drug addicts) than the country it exists within—because those populations will flock to it in order to receive that support, and thus put a far larger support burden on city/NGO resources than you'd expect given the population.
I don't know about Canada, but the US is the only place where "Greyhound therapy" is a thing, and no it's not homeless playing with dogs. Basically, cities just ship their homeless/mentally-ill to another city via Greyhound bus lines. Some cities get the short-end of the stick more than others.
I discovered it first hand taking a bus from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.
That practice is from sending people back to their hometown or last known good address. Cities have limited resources to they kick the can back to its origin. It’s obviously not any kind of solution but it stems from limited resources and wanting to spend it on locals rather than drifters, so to speak.
In the case of Vancouver, I went to elementary school a block away from East Hastings. The benefit of the way they do it there is that those elements stay on E. Hastings for the most part, and aren't out causing discomfort for the rest of the city. I recall there being functioning public washrooms there from when I lived there as a kid.
