B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman says placing authority for the homeless issue under one ministry doesn't mean the government's strategy so far has been a failure. (CBC)

The B.C. government is handing the difficult job of tackling homelessness to one minister who says he will measure success by finding homes for the homeless.

Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman said Tuesday his ministry will now hold much of the power when it comes to finding ways to house and help the thousands of homeless people across the province.

Coleman said the plan involves getting the various government ministries and programs dealing with homelessness to work together while reporting to his ministry.

"Cabinet has given me the authority to go and actually say to health authorities, say to other agencies on the ground, 'You will integrate and if you fail to integrate, then you will find that you may not have the resources because we're going to redeploy those resources to make sure we get the best results,'" Coleman said.

He said the new Homelessness Intervention Project will be responsible for co-ordinating provincial and community social housing and support services, including health and income assistance for the chronically homeless in five communities.

The goal of the project is to reduce chronic homelessness in Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George.

Authority change not admission of failure: minister

The decision to place authority for the homeless issue under one ministry is not an admission that the government's strategy has been a failure, Coleman said, adding the province can point to successes in the five cities.

"If you went and talked to the social service agencies, whether they be in Kelowna or the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, they'll tell you things have gotten a lot better in the last few years. But we really felt there needed to be one more level of integration."

Coleman said the ministry will appoint officials to oversee programs for the homeless in the communities and they will provide him with quarterly reports.

He said the government has made housing available for 4,600 homeless people over the last two years.

The province has bought 45 properties and turned them into housing for the homeless and people with mental health problems and addictions, Coleman said.

The government is also building 1,500 homes for the homeless, and is working with communities that offer land for social housing projects.

But Coleman said he couldn't estimate how many people have no housing in British Columbia.

He said he didn't expect B.C.'s homelessness issue to be solved by 2010 when Vancouver and Whistler host the Winter Olympics.

Jenny Kwan, the NDP's homelessness critic, said Coleman's new program will do little to help those without a place to live because people are still reeling from past government cuts to social services.

Kwan said the government's current budget forecast cuts of almost $75 million to the housing budget in Coleman's ministry.