IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joimai/v20y2019i4d10.1007_s12134-019-00652-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pathways for Refugees’ Descent into Homelessness in Edmonton, Alberta: the Urgent Need for Policy and Procedural Change

Author

Listed:
  • David St. Arnault

    (University of Alberta)

  • Noorfarah Merali

    (University of Alberta)

Abstract

This constructivist grounded theory study investigated pathways for refugees’ descent into homelessness in Edmonton, Alberta, one of Canada’s five largest urban municipalities. Interviews with a mixed sample of 19 adult refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria who experienced homelessness after their arrival, as well as focus groups with housing support workers, identified several types of critical incidents that can lead refugees to become displaced after migration, such as (a) abandonment by or conflict with one’s sponsor, (b) abandonment by settlement counsellors/housing case workers, (c) sudden rent increases, (d) discrimination by landlords or neighbors, and (e) property infestations. When critical incidents are paired with long waiting lists for subsidized housing and a lack of knowledge of Canada’s official languages and housing system, refugees are most likely to become homeless. The study highlighted critical loopholes in immigration policy implementation that urgently need to be addressed to improve refugee housing outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • David St. Arnault & Noorfarah Merali, 2019. "Pathways for Refugees’ Descent into Homelessness in Edmonton, Alberta: the Urgent Need for Policy and Procedural Change," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1161-1179, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:20:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12134-019-00652-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s12134-019-00652-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-019-00652-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12134-019-00652-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Couch, Jen, 2017. "‘Neither here nor there’: Refugee young people and homelessness in Australia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-7.
    2. Maureen Crane & Kathleen Byrne & Ruby Fu & Bryan Lipmann & Frances Mirabelli & Alice Rota-Bartelink & Maureen Ryan & Robert Shea & Hope Watt & Anthony M. Warnes, 2005. "The Causes of Homelessness in Later Life: Findings From a 3-Nation Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(3), pages 152-159.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suzanne Fitzpatrick & Glen Bramley & Sarah Johnsen, 2013. "Pathways into Multiple Exclusion Homelessness in Seven UK Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(1), pages 148-168, January.
    2. Taryn Braver & Vickii B. Jenvey, 2012. "Lifetime Risk Factors Associated with Level of Housing Among Australian Poor," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, March.
    3. Ingo Fiedler, 2018. "Regulation of online gambling," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 7(4), pages 162-168.
    4. Stephen Boyle & Kevin Connolly & Peter G McGregor & Mairi Spowage, 2022. "The regional macroeconomic impact of projected affordable housing developments: Facilitating the ‘levelling up’ Agenda?," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 37(5), pages 384-402, August.
    5. Nho, Choong Rai & Yoon, Sukyoung & Ko, Juae, 2018. "Voices of refugee children in Korea," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 606-616.
    6. Waldbrook, Natalie, 2015. "Exploring opportunities for healthy aging among older persons with a history of homelessness in Toronto, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 126-133.
    7. Krzysztof Czaderny, 2023. "Explaining Life-Course Differences in Homeless Men Using Family-of-Origin Theory," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 221-231, June.
    8. Małgorzata Szcześniak & Katarzyna Szmuc & Barbara Tytonik & Anna Czaprowska & Mariia Ivanytska & Agnieszka Malinowska, 2022. "Moderating Effect of Help-Seeking in the Relationship between Religiosity and Dispositional Gratitude among Polish Homeless Adults: A Brief Report," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joimai:v:20:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s12134-019-00652-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.