Stephen Gaetz , is the director of the

Canadian Observatory on Homelessness The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH)—formerly named the Canadian Homelessness Research Network (CHRN)—is a Canadian non-profit, non-partisan research institute that works with researchers, service providers, policy makers, students and ...

(COH) and a professor at the Faculty of Education at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Dr. Gaetz has enhanced pan-Canadian collaboration between stakeholders interested in

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

research in Canada. He was the Chair of the Organizing Committee of the Canadian Conference on Homelessness held at York University in 2005. The event brought together over 800 people who conduct research, provide services, develop programs and formulate policy regarding

homelessness in Canada Homelessness in Canada was not a social problem until the 1980s. Canadian government housing policies and programs in place throughout the 1970s were based on a concept of shelter as a basic need or requirement for survival and of the obligation o ...

. In addition, Dr. Gaetz has also been guest editor of a special issue of the Canadian Review of Social Policy focusing on homelessness. Dr. Gaetz’ research interests include homelessness, youth culture, criminal

victimization Victimisation ( or victimization) is the process of being victimised or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimisation is called victimology. Peer victimisation Peer victimisati ...

and community development His research on street youth has focused on their economic strategies, health issues and legal and justice issues, and has resulted in numerous publications in scholarly journals. His research on street youth and oral health was used to advocate for better dental services for marginalized populations. This research played an important role in establishing Canada's first free dental service for street youth. Prior to York University, Dr. Gaetz worked in the community health sector, including the Shout Clinic (a health clinic for street youth in Toronto), as well as Queen West Community Health Centre in Toronto. Dr. Gaetz has currently received multi-year funding from the

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada, CRSH) is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and traini ...

(SSHRC) to establish the Canadian Homelessness Research Network. The goal of this network is to work with researchers, service providers, government representatives, and the general public across Canada, in order to mobilize homelessness research for greater impact on homelessness policy and planning. Finally, he is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness/Homeless Hub, from the 2008 SSHRC Cluster Grant proposal which garnered him a 7-year grant. The Homeless Hub is an online research library and information center containing more than 25,000 homelessness related items. He is the secretary of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness with

Alex Himelfarb Alexander Himelfarb (born July 3, 1947) is a former senior Canadian civil servant and sometime academic. Early life and family Born in Germany, he was raised and educated in Toronto. He received a Ph.D. in sociology from University of Toronto. ...

as Chair and Tim Richter as Vice-Chair. The York-University based Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness based on the highly successful American model originated in 2000, also focusses on 10-year Plans to End Homelessness and

Housing First Housing First is a policy that offers unconditional, permanent housing as quickly as possible to homeless people, and other supportive services afterward. It was first discussed in the 1990s, and in the following decades became government policy ...

approaches. He was appointed into the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

with the grade of member, one of Canada's highest civilian honours.

References

External links

York University: Faculty Profiles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaetz, Stephen Academic staff of York University Living people Homelessness activists Members of the Order of Canada Year of birth missing (living people)