Canadian police say multiple homeless people have been shot in the Vancouver suburb of Langley and they have arrested a suspect.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said most of the shootings were in downtown Langley, about 48 kilometres south-east of Vancouver.

There was one report of a shooting in neighbouring Langley Township.

Police Sergeant Rebecca Parslow said she had no immediate details on the victims' conditions.

Local authorities issues a mobile alert early in the morning, telling people to avoid the area as they closed off the city centre.

They later announced they had the suspect in custody.

Authorities initially said they were unsure if the shooter acted alone but police later said the man in custody is believed to be solely responsible.

A homicide team confirmed on social media that its investigators have been deployed to Langley to help the RCMP.

Yellow police tape surrounded a sandwich shop and a parking lot at the scene of one of the shootings.

A black tent was set up over one of the crime scenes.

Mass shootings are less common in Canada than in the United States.

The deadliest gun rampage in Canadian history happened in 2020 when a man disguised as a RCMP officer shot people in their homes and set fires across the province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people.

The country overhauled its gun-control laws after an attacker named Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself in 1989 at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college.

It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada.

To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks.

AP