Homelessness has been the subject of a fair amount of research in recent decades, including studies conducted by the UQAM Collectif de recherche sur l’itinérance, la pauvreté et l’exclusion sociale (CRI), which have laid important milestones for understanding the phenomenon and uncovering possible solutions.2 More recently, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), in collaboration with its institutional and community partners, has carried out research with a view to creating a policy framework for homelessness in Québec.

To fully understand the problem of homelessness, one must first define it. According to the CRI researchers, there is no consensus on the definition of homelessness and its description is more a sociological construct than an administrative designation. The group of partners working on the MSSS policy framework defines a homeless person as someone who does not have a fixed address or access to stable, safe, salubrious housing, has a very low income, is discriminated against where access to services is concerned, has physical or mental health problems, substance abuse or domestic violence problems, is socially disorganized and does not belong to a stable membership group.3