‘Take whatever you can get’: practicing Housing First in Alberta

Abstract

Housing First (HF) is an increasingly widespread and influential response to chronic homelessness. Programs using an HF approach typically rely on market apartments to house homeless clients as rapidly as possible. This reliance means HF programs are dependent on the availability and affordability of market housing. Little attention has been given to how shortages of affordable rental housing influence the practice of HF. To address this gap, we undertook qualitative research in Alberta, Canada. Interviews with service providers revealed that high rents and low vacancy rates had profound impacts on program operations, and complicated efforts to follow HF principles. Clients often experienced delays in being housed and felt pressure to accept the first apartment they were offered. In response, HF programs devoted resources to improve relationships with landlords. Ultimately, however, reliance on market housing undermined programs’ ability to fulfil the potential of HF in the Alberta context.

Keywords:

• Alberta
• homelessness
• housing affordability
• Housing First

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jalene T. Anderson-Baron, MA, is a Policy and Research Analyst at Capital Region Housing in Edmonton, Canada. She completed her MA in Human Geography at the University of Alberta, where her thesis explored the impacts of affordable housing shortages on Housing First. Jalene's published work explores policy and practice pertaining to homelessness, Housing First, harm reduction and service provision for socially marginalized populations. Her current research interests focus on policy and innovation in the Canadian social housing sector.

Damian Collins, PhD, is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Alberta. His work focuses on public policy responses to the housing affordability and homelessness crises in Canada. His current research interests include Housing First, the right to adequate housing, and Canada's social housing sector.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) [grant number 430 2016 00062].