In recent years, there has been a shift in federal and provincial responses to homelessness, with a new focus on providing people with housing as efficiently as possible. This Housing First (HF) approach believes that people must have access to permanent housing before they can address the issues that contribute to their homelessness. While this approach has rehoused countless Canadians, how many still sleep in shelters, on couches, and in encampments? Why?

Housing First approaches face considerable challenges when it comes to housing availability, social isolation, landlord-tenant relationships, and oppressive systems, among other factors. These are only the barriers documented internally within the HF approach, while other hidden factors may exist that prevent individuals from ever engaging with these responses in the first place. This project seeks to explore the intersection of HF responses and people experiencing homelessness, and highlight the barriers that prevent Canadians from recovering.