Lost in Transition: Entering the Liminal Space of Rural Homelessness in a Small Prairie Town

ABSTRACT

Rural homelessness is an emergent social concern in Canada but it remains overshadowed by urban homelessness policy and research agendas. Thus, it is rare to find extended academic discussions of rural homelessness and its causes. In this paper, we report on the findings of a mixed-method rural homelessness study in a small Alberta prairie town (Canada). We explore the nature of transitions and how they place individuals at risk of housing risk and/or homelessness, particularly in a rural context. Findings reveal a complex interplay between external and internal resources and drivers that cast an individual into the liminal space of housing risk and into homelessness, and that the rural context accentuates housing risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Homeless
• homelessness
• incarceration
• rural
• Indigenous

Acknowledgements

The researchers thank the affiliates that lent their expertise, time and passion to exploring this important issue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Em M. Pijl

Em M. Pijl (PhD) is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge. Her community health nursing practice background includes working with marginalized inner-city populations, Indigenous peoples, and seniors. Dr. Pijl's research focuses on harm reduction, homeless/at-risk populations, and community impact studies. She utilizes quantitative and mixed research methods.

Yale D. Belanger

Dr. Yale Belanger (PhD) is Professor of Political Science, University of Lethbridge, and Member, Royal Society of Canada, College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists (2017-2024). Dr. Belanger has provided expert testimony to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada that was utilized for INAC’s technical report, Alternative and Innovative Housing Practices of Indigenous People in Canada (2016); the B. C. Supreme Court in Abbotsford (City) v. Shantz (2015); and the Senate of Canada (2016). Dr. Belanger appeared before the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s National Housing Strategy Expert Roundtable on Urban Aboriginal Housing (2016), and all three levels of government have applied his work. Dr Belanger is a member of the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) and Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH), an editorial board member for the Australia Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), and is a former member of the Alberta Homelessness Research Consortium (AHRC) and the Regional Advisory Board with the Alberta Rural Development Network’s (ARDN) Homelessness Partnering Strategy.