CBC – A team of researchers at Laurentian University is compiling research about homelessness among Indigenous people — with the hopes it could influence government policy decisions, and contribute to reconciliation. Last fall, the university hosted a conference, called Reclaiming Home, which focused on issues of homelessness, housing, and reconciliation.

“Just looking at the rates of homelessness among Indigenous people compared to non-Indigenous people, our research has shown that Indigenous people are at great risk, much greater risk of homelessness,” said Carol Kauppi, director of the Centre for Research in Social Justice Policy at Laurentian, and the person leading the research.
In 2018, Kauppi’s team conducted research in 15 communities in northeastern Ontario, compiling a database of approximately 3,500 people experiencing homelessness.

She said some of those factors include:

• shortage of housing and overcrowding in some First Nations communities
• migration from communities on the James Bay coast into urban centres, and
• individuals being denied access to housing because of discrimination.

Laurentian University researchers will be publishing a book about homelessness and reconciliation in September, 2020. Kauppi said the final chapter of the book will outline policy implications of the research.