Pages 56-59 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69(Suppl 7).
Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Source
Pages 56-59 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69(Suppl 7).
Objectives: This paper focuses on the primary housing challenges experienced by homeless men in the northern urban settlements of Inuvik and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and how these challenges can create pathways to homelessness in these two communities.
Study design: This is community-based research project is rooted in a housing insecurity approach to explore the geographies of northern homelessness.
Methods: Biographical interviews were conducted with 45 men living in emergency shelters in the two study communities.
Results: Primary housing challenges experienced by interview participants result largely from a heavy reliance on private rental housing.
Conclusions: There are three main ways in which the current housing system serves to marginalize men at risk of homelessness. First, rental housing monopolies in Inuvik and Yellowknife exacerbate the lack of affordable housing and inaccessibility. Second, government housing stock is simply not equipped for the diverse urban population of the North. Third, both the private and government housing stocks do not accommodate the particular needs or realities of those in the interview participant population.