Youth Homelessness: 
Including the voices of youth who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless in northern Manitoba

Research Start-up Summary and Abstract:

Much attention has been directed toward the issue of homelessness in northern Manitoba. As a result,  several new transitional facilities have opened their doors in 2014. A new supported facility opened in 2014 for 16 chronically homeless people at 95 Cree Road. There is also a new “treatment first” facility for men, MAPS (Men are Part of the Solution). Both of these new options are for adults who are homeless.

Based on a survey done in the summer of 2014, 72 youth (under the age of 24) were identified as living without a home (City of Thompson, 2014). Many of these youth remain invisible to the general population and to policy makers because they tend to move from apartment to apartment couch surfing and they tend to keep to themselves. There are currently few options for youth to find a safe and comfortable place to live. Rents are high in Thompson and apartments are difficult to get especially for Aboriginal youth.

• Winnipeg’s Urban Aboriginal Identity Population (2011, NHS)

  11% (78,420) of Winnipeg’s population identifies as Aboriginal, 11.5% (82,705) report having Aboriginal ancestry.
• 38.8% are First Nation, 59% are Metis, less than 1% are Inuit and 1.7% report having multiple or other Aboriginal identities.