The shift to end homelessness

Stephen Gaetz, CM, PhD
Professor, Faculty of Education,
York University
Director, Canadian Observatory
on Homelessness


Each year, at least 235,000 vulnerable Canadians find themselves without a roof over their head or a bed to sleep in.

We know it's better to prevent a bad thing from happening than to suffer consequences. Stephen Gaetz believes it's time to apply that thinking to homelessness.

"We must shift the focus onto prevention, so that no Canadian will ever face homelessness."

On October 19, 2017 the School of Public Health welcomed Stephen Gaetz for the third installment of the Douglas R. Wilson lecture. During the lecture, Gaetz presented a prevention-focused strategy for ending homelessness in Canada.

To view the recording of the lecture: http://bit.ly/2yDSKTs.


Stephen Gaetz has had a long-standing interest in understanding homelessness-knowing its causes, learning about the experience and identifying potential solutions.

His program of research has been defined by his desire to make research matter. Gaetz conducts rigorous scholarly research that contributes to our knowledge about homelessness, and at the same time can be mobilized to have a bigger impact on policy, practice and public opinion.

A leader and innovator of knowledge mobilization, Gaetz has brought together researchers, practitioners, policy makers and people with lived experience of homelessness. Together, they participate in a broad agenda of contributing to solutions to homelessness.

As director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, one of Gaetz's key projects is the Homeless Hub a web-based research library recognized as a leading example of innovation in knowledge mobilization.