The current and founding Director is Dr. Stephen Gaetz, a professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where the COH is also housed.
"[4] Homelessness describes the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of acquiring it.
It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioural or physical challenges, and/or racism and discrimination.
Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing.The new definition received a lot of support and also faced some criticism.
The COH produces a number of resources to help service providers, researchers, policy makers etc., better understand and tackle the problem of homelessness.
The Toolkit’s resources are primarily based on the MHCC’s "At Home" research project ("Chez Soi" in French) which looked to address homelessness for people with mental illness by combining treatment with places to live.