Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
- About Homelessness
- Doing Research
- Community Profiles
- Solutions
- Blog
- About Us
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is the largest national research institute devoted to homelessness in Canada. The COH is the curator of the Homeless Hub.
Canadian Observatory on Homelessness- Search
- Our Work
- Search Library
Search Library

Author(s): Anika Shama, Babatunde Alabi, Angie Tse, John Ecker, Justine Levesque
Organization: End Homelessness St. John’s, Hub Solutions, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2022
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) and End Homelessness St. John’s partnered to explore the feasibility of implementing a house-sharing project for low-income individuals in the City of St. John’s. This research was in response to the shift in housing needs, where the current housing stock is not matching the needs of rental applicants.
The research explored house-sharing as an alternative housing model in the contexts of (1) a commun...
Author(s): Nick Kerman, John Ecker, Emmy Tiderington, Amanda Aykanian, Vicky Stergiopoulos, Sean Kidd
Publication Date: 2022
This study examines the factors affecting workplace mental health among service providers to people experiencing homelessness in Canada, with the aim of understanding how work-related challenges cause distress.

Author(s): Betty Edel, Kristiana Clemens, Charlotte Nolin, Amy Reinink, John Ecker, Carter Sehn, Babatunde Olusola Alabi
Organization: End Homelessness Winnipeg, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2022
This report provides an overview of Winnipeg’s journey to a coordinated housing and homelessness system.
End Homelessness Winnipeg, the Community Entity in Winnipeg, has been developing coordination processes for several years and is now at the point of building coordination practices across the entire housing and homelessness system. This process has been grounded in the knowledge from previous research reports and from the lived experience of...
Author(s): John Ecker, Carter Sehn, Justine Levesque, Jenny Lam
Organization: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2021
The Local Poverty Reduction Fund is funded by the Government of Ontario and administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Author(s): Iradele Plante, John Ecker, Sarah Holden
Publisher: Egale
Publication Date: 2018
The Local Poverty Reduction Fund is funded by the Government of Ontario and administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Author(s): Nick Kerman, John Ecker, Emmy Tiderington, Stephen Gaetz, Sean A. Kidd
Publisher: Journal of Mental Health
Publication Date: 2022
This 2022 study explores the impact of workplace traumas and stressors among service providers working with people experiencing homelessness in Canada.

Author(s): Justine Levesque, Carter Sehn, Jordan Babando, John Ecker, Lonnie Embleton
Organization: Hub Solutions
Publisher: Canadian Observatory on Homelessness Press
Publication Date: 2021
Reaching Home has funded Hub Solutions, a social enterprise of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) to research the needs of frontline staff in the homelessness support sector and identify opportunities and avenues to improve employment and workplace conditions in the sector.
Four research questions guided this work:
What are the key skills (e.g., technical, interpersonal, educational, lived experience, empathy, etc.) that are require...
Author(s): John Ecker, Tim Aubry, John Sylvestre
Publication Date: 2021
This study examines the experiences of adults who identify as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) and who have accessed emergency shelters in an urban Canadian city. Twenty LGBTQ adults who were currently or formerly homeless participated in one qualitative interview. The interview protocol included questions on the participants’ experiences accessing emergency shelters, with a focus on interactions with other emergency shelter res...

Author(s): John Ecker, Jenny Lam, Nathaniel Loranger, Erika Morton
Organization: Hub Solutions, Raising the Roof
Publication Date: 2021
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) partnered with Raising the Roof (RtR) to conduct a developmental evaluation of strategies to scale up the Host Homes model in Canada. The project received funding from Innoweave.
The evaluation questions were co-created by the COH and RtR. The original questions to be answered were:
How can the Host Homes model be adapted to meet the needs of diverse Canadian contexts (i.e., urban vs. rural, differe...
Author(s): Carter Sehn, Jenny Lam, John Ecker, Anika Mifsud
Organization: Hub Solutions, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2021
Background
Hoarding disorder is recognized as a distinct mental health diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5). It is commonly defined as feeling compelled to collect and save items, and a persistent difficulty to discard items (Kress et al, 2016; Dozier & Ayers, 2017). The compulsion to collect leads to an over-crowding of living spaces which can spread outside of living areas, and sign...
Author(s): Victoria Bomberry, Yvonne Maracle, Sara Mayo, Tristan MacLaurin, Cindy Sue Montana McCormack, John Ecker, Anika Mifsud
Organization: Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton - Indigenous Reaching Home Team, Hub Solutions, The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness
Publication Date: 2020
This report explores the national shift in addressing homelessness through a “coordinated access” approach and its impact on Indigenous individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Launched April 1st, 2019, Reaching Home, Canada’s national homelessness strategy, has required that all Designated Communities (i.e., urban centres in Canada) have a coordinated access system in place by March 31, 2022.
The focus of the report is largely on the...