Homelessness: What’s in a Word?

Before the 1980s, the word “homelessness” was rarely used in Canada, partly because few people were utterly without housing before that time. Since then, Canadians have come to use the word “homelessness” as a catch-all term for a host of serious social and economic policy failures, particularly the failure to have in place systems for meeting basic human needs in a universal, inclusive fashion. This electronic book is intended to take apart the word “homelessness” and reveal the many social issues it conceals, so Canadians can begin to develop appropriate responses.

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Editor(s): 
Hulchanski, J. David
Campsie, Philippa
Chau, Shirley B.Y.
Hwang, Stephen H.
Paradis, Emily
Publication Date: 
2009
Publisher(s): 
Canadian Observatory on Homelessness