“They want a different life”: Rural northern settlement dynamics and pathways to homelessness in Yellowknife and Inuvik, Northwest Territories

Abstract

Visible homelessness in the Northwest Territories, Canada is often described as a recent phenomenon by policy makers and the popular media alike. Indeed, since the late 1990s, homeless shelters in Yellowknife and Inuvik report a steady increase in demand for beds and other support for homeless people. Homelessness in these two communities disproportionately affects Aboriginal northerners, however little is known about their individual pathways to homelessness. Moreover, homelessness in the Northwest Territories is often portrayed as an issue confined to larger “urbanizing” regional centres, yet many homeless Aboriginal northerners have originated from small, rural settlement communities. Despite this, little concern has been paid to how factors at the small community level intersect with more visible forms of homelessness in larger, urban centres, not to mention how these intersections shape a territorial geography of homelessness. In this article, I aim to uncover and explore the often hidden factors at the northern rural settlement level that ultimately contribute to more visible forms of homelessness in northern urban centres. I suggest that uneven and fragmented social, institutional, and economic geographies result in a unique landscape of vulnerability to homelessness in the Northwest Territories. This geography emerges through the production of particular dynamics between rural settlement communities and northern urban centres. In particular, four main factors represent these rural‐urban dynamics: 1) the attractions of opportunity in northern urban centres; 2) rural settlement‐urban institutional flows; 3) chronic housing need in the settlements; and, 4) disintegrating social relationships in the settlements. I explore the particular ways in which these factors influence rural‐urban migration among the homeless population and what roles this mobility plays in individual pathways to homelessness.

Rural Homelessness in Western Canada: Lessons Learned from Diverse Communities

“…They also described migration as motivated by a number of factors, including poor housing conditions on-reserve, lack of employment and education opportunities, as well as the need to access services (medical, judiciary, counseling, etc.). Several researchers studying migration patterns have reported similar motivations (Belanger & Weasel Head, 2013;Christensen, 2012;Peters & Robillard, 2009). Lack of safety, abuse, and violence were also reported by interviewees to be main drivers out of Indigenous communities.…”

“…The combination of vast, sparsely inhabited spaces, a harsh climate, and minimal to non-existent social services in remote areas, provides the setting and unique challenges for those who are without adequate housing in rural Canada. Recent reports reveal considerable concerns over dwellings that provided inadequate shelter from the elements, others being unfit for human habitation, and people doubled up and living in extremely overcrowded situations (Christensen, 2012).…”

“…Some have a general overview of rural homelessness in a given region and others are focused on discrete populations such as Aboriginal people (Belanger & Weasel Head, 2013;Kauppi, Pallard, McGregor, & Seyler, 2015), northern remote areas (Christensen, 2012), and those with a serious mental illness (Forchuk et al, 2010). The lack of consolidated information across the country hinders a clear understanding of the specificity and complexity of Canadian rural homelessness and thus hampers efforts to tailor programs and initiatives aimed at alleviating homelessness in rural environments (Waegemakers Schiff et al, 2016).…”

“…Some literature and reports on homelessness among Indigenous people in Canada have focussed on migration between reserves and urban centres (Belanger & Weasel Head, 2013;Christensen, 2012;Carle & BelangerDion, 2003;Kauppi et al, 2009;Peters & Robillard, 2009). Interviewees reported frequent migration from Indigenous communities.…”

Neoliberalism and Homelessness in the Western Canadian Arctic

“…Based on the application criteria of the HPS program, which includes the requirement of a community plan and the ability to match funding (Employment and Development Services Canada, 2013), the town of Inuvik did not qualify for funding. Yet, as the administrative, economic, and governance centre of the Beaufort-Delta region, as well as the most northerly point on the Dempster Highway, Inuvik is a receiving centre for many people who are homeless, or vulnerable to homelessness, and who also suffer from addictions and mental health problems (Christensen, 2012). With the exception of an emergency shelter that can accommodate 16 adults and a women's transitional home that houses up to 10 women and children at a time, services to homeless persons in Inuvik with addictions and mental health problems are limited to relatively scant professional services provided by the Beaufort-Delta Health & Social Services Authority, Gwich'in Tribal Council, and Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.…”