Beyond the social benefits of living with a pet, the connections that companion animals provide can assist in recovery from addiction and lead to better emotional and mental health for unhoused people.
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Many unhoused people have pets, however, accessing health care for themselves and their pets can be a challenge. ‘One Health’ clinics can provide vital health care to unhoused people and their pets.
Workers demolish the temporary installation for refugee claimants at Roxham Road in September 2023 in St. Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que. Since then, refugee claims have increased.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
We know how to reduce homelessness and uphold our responsibilities to those seeking asylum and protection. Now all we need is the political will.
Unhoused people and supporters protest against police as they prepare to clear homeless encampments in Edmonton on Jan. 9, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Encampment sweeps in Edmonton are a brutal attack on both human and treaty rights, as well as a continuation of the violent removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land.
Tents belonging to unhoused people on a sidewalk in downtown Edmonton on June 15, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
If passed, B.C.’s Bill 45 will trample over the constitutional rights of unhoused people by ignoring shelter barriers, Indigenous rights and the need for daytime shelter
Portland, Maine, officials ordered that a park be cleared on Sept. 28, 2022, of people who were homeless and that any trash be removed before a visit by a candidate for governor.
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty
It takes time to make more affordable long-term housing options available. So what can be done in the meantime? We can start by prioritising well-designed, supportive transitional housing.
University engagement with communities, such as the clothing exchange organized by UBC Climate Action Mobilizers, is vital for empowering communities and addressing climate injustices.
(Linda Nowlan)
Linda Nowlan, University of British Columbia and Tim Linsell, University of British Columbia
Often those most impacted by climate change are those least able to engage with climate discourse. Universities have a responsibility to engage with these communities.
Philly schools counted 4,675 homeless children in the 2021-22 school year – but the numbers are likely higher.
Leo Patrizi/E+ Collection/Getty Images
A professor of counseling who researches homelessness offers tips to help parents gets the school support and accommodations for their children.
A tent on the sidewalk in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Cash transfers can help people find suitable accommodations and save governments money.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
To address chronic homelessness, the federal government needs to include funding for longer-term supportive housing in its National Housing Strategy.
A core focus of palliative care is on easing symptoms and increasing quality of life for people who have a serious or chronic illness, and not solely for those who are dying.
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The challenging realities surrounding end-of-life care are especially difficult for older people experiencing homelessness, who have more barriers to accessing hospice care.
Local councils lack the means to tackle homelessness, but are often closest to the people at risk. A national plan should recognise and resource the role councils can play in preventing homelessness.
While all groups experienced increased housing vulnerability after the pandemic hit, only people of Asian descent continued to see their situations worsen in 2021 as the US spent trillions trying to soften the impact.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford talks to the media on a construction site in Brampton, Ont., in May 2022. Later in the year, the Ford government justified its adoption of sweeping housing legislation and the opening of parts of the Greater Toronto Area Greenbelt for development, stating that it was needed to address “the housing supply crisis.”
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Evidence suggests that Ontario neither had a shortage of pre-authorized housing starts to accommodate its growing population, nor did it have a shortage of designated land to build such homes.
Protestors in Gqeberha, South Africa, demonstrating against gender-based violence.
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Improving access to affordable housing and increasing benefit assistance rates are some sustainable solutions to the chronic cycle of homelessness faced by women fleeing violence.
In Canada, just over 10 per cent of households live in housing that is unaffordable, unsuitable or inadequate, and they cannot afford alternative housing in their community.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Halfway through its 10-year mandate to address issues like affordability and homelessness, the National Housing Strategy is providing little benefit for the vast majority of vulnerable households.
Tents line the sidewalk on East Hastings Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Cities like Vancouver should not clear encampments when people have nowhere else to go.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Cities are clearing homeless encampments, sometimes violently, without providing those who live there any alternatives. Long-term solutions are needed to help people off the streets.