Vision, Mission, & Principles

A Health-Informed End to Homelessness in Canada.

1. To promote collaboration amongst the healthcare, homeless and housing sectors to drive innovative responses to the health and housing needs of people experiencing homelessness.
2. To provide a national forum for the sharing of experiences and models of care and support amongst health and housing providers and organizations.
3. To support and develop strategic national initiatives to address the health and housing needs of people experiencing homelessness in Canada.
4. To collaborate with local and national partners to advocate to end homelessness in Canada.

As health care, shelter, housing and legal providers working in partnership with people with lived and living experience of homelessness, we believe that an effective and dignified response to the health, housing and legal needs of people who are or who have been homeless includes:

1. Rights-Based Approach: Services anchored in a human rights-based approach that recognizes the indivisible, interdependent and interrelated rights to healthcare, housing, income security and legal counsel amongst wider economic, civil, social, political and cultural rights.
2. Interdisciplinary Co-Design and Delivery: A team of service providers from a variety of backgrounds including people with lived or living experiences dedicated to respecting the integrity and choices of the person entrusting their care to the care and support services team.
3. Importance of Historical, Psychological and Cultural Context: A belief in the importance of health care, shelter, housing and legal services being informed by culture, language, trauma and past life experiences.
4. Commitment to Harm-Reduction: A belief that people are experts in their own lives and that their care and support services should reflect their goals for themselves including a recognition that people have the right to live with risk and to make choices which may have outcomes which service providers do not support.