A University of New Brunswick (UNB)professor’s research on student homelessness is expanding across the country.
After researcher Eric Weissman presented his work at a conference in November, other schools and professors expressed interest in conducting the survey with their campuses.
In 2017, he conducted a survey on student homelessness at Red Deer College. The initial survey found that 3.4 per cent of the respondents were homeless at the time of the survey and nearly 35 per cent had experienced a brief bout of homelessness as students.
So far, Lakehead University, the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge have taken the survey or are currently conducting it, according to Weissman. The University of Alberta and four other schools have also expressed interest in using the survey.
In 2012, the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN) released a new definition of homelessness that includes the situation of someone without stable, permanent and appropriate housing. The group names four main categories of homelessness: unsheltered, emergency sheltered, provisionally accommodated, and at risk of homelessness.
Weissman said he conducted his survey at UNB and found that about four per cent of student respondents have experienced homelessness.
“That’s a pretty serious number if it translates across the board,” he said.
He said the November conference showed him that other researchers are currently conducting their own studies on student homelessness, but he’s “the only one talking about it.”
Weissman said the only major published study on student homelessness that he found was done in 2014 by Katharina Kovacs Burns at the University of Alberta, who has continued to research the issue since.
Student homelessness across the four categories may look different depending on the case, Weissman said.
“It could be intergenerational, it could be because they come from low-income [families], it could be because they were in a relationship or living with someone and it fell apart,” he explained.
Weissman said universities should offer students housing support, especially those who are in a precarious housing situation until they find a solution.
He said the University of Alberta is a leading example through their pilot project, the Safe House Program.
According to the university’s website, the program offers temporary emergency accommodation for current students and their children, who are “experiencing an immediate personal safety risk, facing intolerable living conditions, or financially destitute.”
Weissman said the more important thing that needs to be done to address student homelessness is for researchers to share their knowledge with each other to better understand the breadth of the problem.
“We need to get on top of this thing and get in front of it,” he said. “It’s not the sort of thing that we should be making into an academic subject. This is a real problem—this is real time.”
Image by Spencer Colby
