Manitoba is experiencing an affordable housing crisis. Having a home is crucial for dignity and human rights. The SPECTRUM partners have highlighted that this is a growing concern for their communities and in a governmental priority. 

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Manitoba has a policy encouraging those discharged from institutions (e.g., hospitals, prisons, CPS) but without a place to live to apply for social housing. The first study in this theme will link province-wide data on demographics, hospitalization, incarceration, and CPS involvement with social housing data to conduct a retrospective cohort study describing and comparing the characteristics of people accepted (compared to those not accepted) into social housing after being discharged from an institution; and describe and compare these two groups’ mental and physical health diagnoses, use of social services, and legal system outcomes. Subsequent studies in this theme will bring data on homelessness into the Data Repository (negotiations to transfer new data have begun), which will allow SPECTRUM to address questions on the long-term impacts of housing programs and the relationships between institutionalized populations and homelessness.

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Moving forward it is critical that data on homelessness be gathered at the Repository to ensure that this group of people are represented in the data, their hardships and resilience be acknowledged and shared, and their outcomes be improved with informed policy.