We’re a Global Thought Leader on Homelessness Prevention
We know how to prevent homelessness. For over a decade, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness has been building an evidence base and paving the way for governments and communities to move from addressing homelessness through an emergency crisis response to preventing it altogether.
From an emergency response…
…to a coordinated system of solutions
Each year nearly 235,000 Canadians will experience homelessness. It doesn’t have to be this way. By shifting how we respond, from a reliance on emergency services to a coordinated system of solutions, we can prevent and end homelessness in Canada.
Our Projects
Our Story
The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness is a non-partisan research and policy partnership between academics, policy and decision makers, service providers and people with lived experience of homelessness.
Led by Stephen Gaetz, President & CEO, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness works in collaboration with partners to conduct and mobilize research designed to have an impact on solutions to homelessness. The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness evolved out of a 2008 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project called the Canadian Homelessness Research Network. Since that time, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness has established itself as a global thought leader on solutions to homelessness and an innovator in knowledge mobilization practices.
To bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice, the COH goes beyond the mandate of a traditional research institute. As one of the largest homelessness-dedicated research institutes in the world, we support service providers, policy makers and governments to improve their capacity to end homelessness.
