Portland Hotel Society

Portland Hotel Society (PHS) is a Canadian non-profit society created in 1993 to provide advocacy, housing, services, and opportunities, for the marginalized citizens of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Its 451 staff support 1,153 rooms, North America's first legal supervised-injection site, known as Insite, a Downtown Eastside credit union branch (Pigeon Park Savings), a food service that feeds people in Single-Room Occupancy residences (Downtown Eastside Central Kitchen) and a pest control service (Bugs Be Gone).

In 1991, the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) converted a local hotel to housing for homeless people and named it after the American city of Portland, Oregon due to its reputation for aiding homeless people.

A co-founder of the society was former Vancouver city councilor Jim Green.

The Society now operates four housing facilities and professional supports for "hard-to-house" populations including those with mental illnesses, addictions and other issues. The program is funded by the BC Housing Management Commission (a provincial Crown corporation) and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. Approximately 40 percent of residents stay at the Portland Hotel for about 10 years, while the balance of residents stay 4 to 6 years. This contrasts dramatically with the prior history of residents, who typically registered 6 to 8 addresses – or none at all – in the year before moving to the Portland Hotel.

It currently operates several buildings owned by BC Housing, including the Washington Hotel, the Rainier Hotel, the Roosevelt Hotel, the Beacon Hotel and the Sunrise Hotel.

In September 2003, the PHS forced Vancouver Coastal Health to found Insite by constructing and opening the site illegally. Insite,was North America's first supervised injection site. The Government was forced through the pressure of public opinion to issue a special exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

On August 13, 2007, the Portland Hotel Society and two citizens filed suit in the BC Supreme Court to keep the centre open, arguing that its closure by the federal government would be a violation of the Charter right of Insite users to "security of the person".

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