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Three Glendon faculty members recognized with the 2016-17 Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards

Glendon Manor FEATURED image
Glendon Manor
Igor Djordjevic

Glendon faculty members Igor Djordjevic, Marie-Hélène Larochelle and Maya Chacaby are the recipients of this year’s Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards. Djordjevic and Larochelle were both selected in the full-time faculty category, the former, with the award for more than ten years of experience and the latter, receiving the award for less than ten years of experience. Chacaby was the recipient in the contract faculty category.

The Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards honour those who, through innovation and commitment, enhance the quality of teaching and learning at Glendon.

“I congratulate these faculty members on this well-deserved recognition,” said Donald Ipperciel, principal of the Glendon Campus. “The contribution they make to teaching and learning is undeniable. They have had a transformative impact on student education and experience at Glendon.”

Djordjevic teaches in the English Department; it is the second time in his career that he has won this award. He is particularly known for his dedication to students. In fact, one student stated, “Professor Djordjevic has made my experience at Glendon, and the experiences of so many more students, even more enriching. I believe his consistent commitment to his field, his students, this program, and this school deserves the recognition of the Principal’s Teaching Excellence Award.”  He was delighted to accept the award.

Marie-Hélène Larochelle

“Although there is nothing I would rather do in life than teach, I take this award as the new bar set for the quality of my work, and I will strive to meet it continually, every year, with every new generation of students,” said Djordjevic.

Teaching in the Department of French Studies, Larochelle is especially recognized for her mentoring skills. A colleague added, “Marie-Hélène has been relentlessly involved in both undergraduate courses and Master’s seminars in French Studies, as well as in the Ph.D. in Francophone Studies.”

“Teaching today involves competing with the immediate connections valued by social media,” noted Larochelle.  “Being chosen for this award provides me with the opportunity to interact and regularly connect with students.”

Chacaby teaches Ojibwe as part of the Linguistics program at Glendon. Colleagues and students have nothing but high praise for her teaching. One student noted, “When I signed up for this course, I was under the impression that it was a language course. Through Maya’s innovative teaching style, and deep passion and understanding of the language and community, we learned how closely intertwined the language, culture, and history of indigenous communities are. Maya made us interrogate our understandings of history and culture, and opened my eyes to the injustice of rewriting history, and culture genocide.”

Maya Chacaby

“Nimaamoyaawagenimaag gaa mikwenimishiwaach niiji-aanikoominodewiwag” (I am very humbled by the kindness of my colleagues who considered me for this prize),” said Chacaby, upon accepting her award.

The Principal’s Teaching Excellence Awards were announced on April 3 during the closing reception of the Research Colloquium on Linguistic Diversity.  The Principal’s Research Excellence Awards recipients were also recognized during this event.

York researchers participate in national consultations on women, peace and security

Three researchers from York University travelled to Ottawa to participate in national consultations aimed at guiding the development of Canada’s next National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security. The consultations, which took place April 20 and 21, brought together approximately 90 key stakeholders from the government, military and police, civil society and the research community to discuss lessons learned and gaps from the first NAP. The group also worked to identify key issues of concern and potential priorities for the upcoming plan. The event, titled Looking Back, Looking Forward, was facilitated by Global Affairs Canada and the Women, Peace & Security Network – Canada.

Althea-Maria Rivas

Attending from York University were political science Professor Althea-Maria Rivas, and postdoctoral fellow Izevbuwa Ikhimiukor and PhD student Heather Tasker, who are researchers on the Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW) Research Project at York University’s Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas.

“The renewal of Canada’s NAP on women, peace and security comes at a time when there is increasing violence and uncertainty in many parts of the world. The centrality of gender to those conflicts is a glaring but often ignored fact,” says Rivas.

“ The new NAP could provide an opportunity for Canada to strengthen its commitment to addressing some of these issues both at home and abroad through its development and humanitarian assistance, and to develop a new plan that is more reflective of the challenges confronting communities in conflict affected societies today,” she said.

The York researchers contributed a four-page brief that summarized perspectives from their research and input from research partners on the key obstacles facing women in conflict and violence affected communities. The document also made suggestions about the related critical areas of focus for the government of Canada. The brief brought together input from research and community-based organizations (CBOs) from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

Above: Conjugal Slavery in War project researchers, pictured from left are Postdoctoral Fellow Izevbuwa Ikhimiukor, graduate students Yamri Taddese, Jen Katshunga and Heather Tasker

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. It was the first such instrument created to specifically address the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and girls. The resolution is organized around four areas: women’s participation in peace processes, protection, conflict prevention and post conflict relief and recovery. It stresses the need for women to be active agents in all elements of the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace-building and peacekeeping.

Subsequently, seven more resolutions (1880, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122 and 2242) have been adopted. The resolutions focus specifically on issues such as sexual and gender-based violence in conflict. To date, approximately 60 countries have National Action Plans implementing the Women, Peace and Security Resolutions. Canada’s first National Action Plan was only launched in 2010.

The Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada is a network of more than 70 Canadian non-governmental organizations and individuals. For more information, visit https://wpsn-canada.org/.

More about the Conjugal Slavery in War (CSiW) Research Project

The CSiW Research Project is led by Professor Annie Bunting of York University and has, since 2011, engaged in collaborative research across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Project researchers have conducted more than 250 interviews with female survivors and victims of conflict-related sexual violence. The interviews serve to document their experiences. For more information, visit http://csiw-ectg.org/.

Osgoode PhD candidate earns Canada Graduate Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela

Odelia Bay
Odelia Bay

Osgoode Hall Law School PhD candidate Odelia Bay has received a major Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) to Honour Nelson Mandela in recognition of the important research she is conducting into the barriers to accommodation for workers with a chronic illness.

CGS awards recognize and support graduate students who are conducting research in one or more of five areas championed by Nelson Mandela: national unity; democracy, freedom and human rights; leadership; children’s participation in society; and children’s health.

The awards – up to 10 for master’s students and 10 for doctoral students in any given competition year – are administered by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Bay received an award of $105,000 for her research project titled “Mapping the Margins of a Disability Paradigm: Promoting Self-Care in the Accommodation of Chronic Illness in Employment”. Her PhD supervisor is Osgoode Professor Roxanne Mykitiuk.

“The aim of my research is to understand how workers with a chronic illness experience the law of disability accommodation and how related perceptions of illness as disability influence the nature of work and workplaces as sites of stigma and discrimination,” Bay said. “By promoting a broader understanding of disability to include chronic illness and related self-care needs, I hope to expand the purview of Canadian human rights law and make the experience of employment more inclusive and more humane.”

Bay has been in Osgoode’s PhD program since 2015. She has an LLM (Columbia), a JD (Ottawa) and a BJour (Ryerson), and has previously received numerous academic and community awards and honours.

Fifth annual Robert Tiffin Leadership Awards recognizes ten students

Robert Tiffin Leadership Awards
Robert Tiffin Leadership Awards

Ten more names will be added to the awards display wall in the Vari Hall Rotunda in celebration of the fifth annual Robert J. Tiffin Student Leadership Award.

This year’s award winners, along with Robert J. Tiffin and President-designate and Vice-President Academic and Provost Rhonda Lenton

The York University students receiving the award were honoured at the reception for their outstanding achievements in leadership, dedication, integrity and enthusiasm. The students received a certificate at the reception and will have the award noted on their transcripts.

The award was created to recognize current undergraduate and graduate students whose leadership has contributed to the growth, development and vitality of York University.

Students were selected on the basis of their leadership and/or involvement, as well as outstanding academic achievement.

This year’s recipients are:

School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design 
• Katrissa Singer, a fourth-year student completing a specialized honours bachelor of fine arts degree, majoring in visual arts

Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS)
• Alamgir Khandwala, a fourth-year student completing a specialized honours bachelor of administrative studies degree, majoring in accounting

• Munisha Basiram, a fourth-year student completing a specialized honours bachelor of public administration degree, with a focus on management

Glendon College and the Faculty of Education
• Liam Bekirsky, a third-year student at Glendon College completing a bilingual honours bachelor of arts degree, majoring in French studies. Bekirsky is also completing his bachelor of education degree with a focus on French as a second language and history

Faculty of Health
• Hammad Saif, a third-year student completing a specialized honours bachelor of science degree, majoring in kinesiology and health science

• Maseh Hadaf, a third-year student completing a specialized honours, bachelor of science degree, majoring in global health policy, management and systems

Faculty of Science
• Olga Andriyevska, a fourth-year student completing an honours bachelor of science degree, majoring in physics and astronomy

Faculty of Graduate Studies
• Yvonne Simpson, a fifth-year student completing a PhD in critical disability studies

Faculty of Education
• Melinda Phuong, a second-year student completing her master of education degree

• Michael Kenny, a third-year student in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, completing a PhD in education

Robert Tiffin, the award’s namesake, served as York University’s vice president, Students, for nine years before retiring in 2012. Tiffin was in attendance to hand out the awards to each of the winners and described the reception as “truly one of the biggest events of the year for me”.

This is the fifth year for the award, and Tiffin noted that he is honoured to have his name associated with the recipients.

“I am always impressed by the diversity of ways in which leadership occurs here at York and this was truly evident as I went through looking at the nomination packages,” he said. “There were several key themes I found that really embody the York Education – and this is mobilizing new ways of thinking, preparing engaged global citizens and building stronger communities.”

Through his strong leadership, dedication, integrity and fairness, Tiffin transformed his operation into one of the most professional student service organizations in the country while serving one of Canada’s largest student populations. During his term as Vice-President, Students, he undertook the strategic expansion of student services and the development of strategic programs such as Research At York (RAY) and Leadershape, which focus on enhancing the student educational and co-curricular experience.

Since retiring from York University Robert has continued a private consulting practice engaging with colleges, universities, government agencies and the private sector.  He has continued his commitment to enhancing post-secondary educational opportunities for student with disabilities by serving as a member of the Gordon Foundation.

Rhonda Lenton, President-designate, vice-president academic and provost, also shared a few words with recipients.

“This is one of the very important awards we have at York University,” she said. “The students in the room today … you are active, engaged members of the University and you are ambassadors for us.”

The celebration was hosted by the Office of Vice-Provost, Students.

Debbie Hansen named Executive Director, Community Support & Services

Debbie Hansen
Debbie Hansen

Vice-President Academic and Provost Rhonda Lenton, and Trudy Pound-Curtis, interim vice-president finance and administration, issue the following announcement:

We are pleased to announce that Debbie L. Hansen has been named the Executive Director, Community Support & Services at York University.

Debbie Hansen

Debbie’s new portfolio brings together the Office of Student Community Relations and the Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support and Education. This step underscores York University’s commitment to creating an environment where all people feel welcome, valued and safe and to providing the services, programs and resources that will ensure our entire community – staff, faculty and students – is supported and empowered.

Debbie brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this new role, as well as a strong passion for justice, a deep understanding and commitment to the York community and to student success. Debbie has professional training and expertise in mediation, labour relations, collective bargaining and alternate dispute resolution, and extensive experience in violence threat risk assessment, sexual violence prevention and response, and human and financial resources management. Previously, Debbie was the Director of Client Services in the Division of Students and has served in key positions such as Director of Non-Academic Employee Relations, Associate Registrar and Acting Director in the Office of Student Affairs, with service spanning more than 35 years at York.

Office of Student Community Relations
The Office of Student Community Relations (OSCR) supports students impacted by critical incidents, facing personal crises or multiple complex issues. The Office’s mandate is to provide advice, referrals, training, alternate dispute resolution methods, judicial processes (local adjudication, tribunals), critical incident support and student leadership opportunities. Under Debbie’s direction, OSCR implemented a strengthened Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities, guided the formation of the Students of Concern Committee (SoCC), provided critical incident and support services during crisis situations on and off campus, developed a student peer support network, and was integral to the development of the Sexual Violence Response Policy and the Sexual Violence Response Office (SVRO), designated as the first point of contact for those who have experienced sexual violence.

Centre for Sexual Violence, Response, Support, and Education
The Centre for Sexual Violence, Response & Education, now incorporating the SVRO, has been created to coordinate supports and resources for all members of the community who have experienced sexual violence; to receive disclosures and complaints; facilitate safety planning; and, assist survivors through the complaint process. The Centre reaffirms the University’s longstanding commitment to foster a culture where attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate sexual violence are rejected, survivors are supported, and those who are found to have committed sexual violence are held accountable. The Centre will handle all matters relating to care and support, advocacy and navigation, governance and policy, and education and training to address sexual violence and to support the University’s ongoing commitment to be proactive in our initiatives and communications.

Further plans regarding the Centre are forthcoming.

Please join us in congratulating Debbie on her new role.

Sincerely,

Rhonda L. Lenton, vice-president academic & provost
Trudy Pound-Curtis, interim vice-president finance & administration

York U study identifies health challenges for mothers of children with developmental disabilities

Community of Practice
Community of Practice

A community-based study out of York University’s Faculty of Health identifies the health promotion challenges and needs of immigrant mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

Nazilla Khanlou

Nazilla Khanlou, Women’s Health Research Chair in Mental Health at York and associate professor of nursing, led the study titled “Health promotion for immigrant mothers of children with developmental disabilities: What is Relevant?” along with Gail Jones, Louise Kinross and Karen Yoshida.

“Mainstream health promotion doesn’t work for mothers of children with developmental disabilities,” said Khanlou, adding that these challenges intensify when other factors – such as migration status and societal gender roles – are considered.

The York research team conducted 28 in-depth interviews in the Greater Toronto Area and asked mothers of children with developmental disabilities: to suggest what may help them to improve their health and well-being; about the challenges they face to address their mental and physical health; and about some strategies that may promote their health and well-being.

Khanlou said the findings highlight five key points, as follows:

• Immigrant status is a social determinant of health – following immigration, mothers have less social support, which can increase the challenges they have mothering children with developmental disabilities (and less time for their own health promotion).

• Caring for children with developmental disabilities contributes to increased levels of parental stress. Parents experience higher levels of stress, anxiety, illness, marital strain and socioeconomic problems. Mothers are usually primary caregivers of children with developmental disabilities, and often the mother’s health is at risk due to continuous and persistent caregiving for their children.

• New immigrant mothers of children with developmental disabilities have limited time and resources to carry out activities included in mainstream health promotion approaches, such as participating in regular exercise, and taking time for self to spend as they wish.

• A number of social and economic challenges were identified by mothers related to processes of acculturation, settlement, and access to health services for themselves and their children.

• The intersections of culture, gender, caregiving duties and motherhood responsibilities showed powerful impacts on mothers’ perceived health and well-being. Although motherhood was talked about in a positive and rewarding manner, there were also challenges identified, such as having limited time for self, and often having sole responsibility of family and children.

Gender and disability have been understood as social determinants of health, said Khanlou; however, motherhood in relation to the care work mothers do in families with children with disabilities is overlooked in the literature.

“When migration is added to the complexity of simultaneous parenting and caregiving, service providers inadvertently may culturalize families’ challenges instead of looking at the systemic access barriers to meaningful health promotion practices for mothers of children with disabilities,” says Khanlou.

“Our research adds to this, and broadens the understanding of unique and intersecting social determinants of health for immigrant mothers of children with developmental disabilities in culturally diverse and immigrant receiving settings,” she said.

Further to that, Khanlou’s research has resulted in the proposal of a new data-driven model that addresses mothers’ health promotion challenges, facilitators and strategies.  The model recently published in the Journal of Health Care for Women International (2017) in the article titled “Mothering children with developmental disabilities: A critical perspective on health promotion” (Nazilla Khanlou, Nida Mustafa, Luz Maria Vazquez, Deborah Davidson and Karen Yoshida) is derived from the study’s data and centres immigrant mothers’ own perceptions on meaningful health promotion practice and policy at the micro, meso and macro levels.

It is available here: tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07399332.2017.1296841.

The study received external funding from Women’s Xchange at Women’s College Research Institute.

Currently, Khanlou and her team are examining the impact of gender and migration status on accessing funding for developmental services in Ontario (funded by the Ministry of Community & Social Services). For more information on this and other studies, see nkhanlou.info.yorku.ca.

Faculty of Science makes 19 Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards

Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background
Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background

This summer, the Faculty of Science will be hosting a record high number of undergraduate research students. The Faculty has made 19 Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards (DURAs) to high-performing York Science students, tripling the number of awards given last year. The awards are in addition to administering 20 NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (NSERC USRAs) to deserving students. Both groups of students will present their research at a conference to be held in August.

Ray Jayawardhana

“We are delighted to support an increased number of DURAs this year because they are a win-win-win for everyone involved,” says Faculty of Science Dean Ray Jayawardhana. “DURAs expose promising students to frontline research and new skills, boost our professors’ research productivity and impact, and enhance the research culture within the Faculty.”

The Dean’s Undergraduate Research Awards program was launched last year to expand hands-on research opportunities for undergraduate students, a key priority articulated in the Faculty of Science’s strategic plan. The DURAs are 16-week positions (paid, full-time) for undergraduate students to work in a York University research lab over the summer. Students who apply for a DURA must first secure the support of a faculty supervisor, who agrees to host the student in their research group and to cover a portion of their salary.

The 2017 DURA recipients are:

  • Avani Abraham, supervised by Biology Professor Ronald Pearlman
  • Mauood Ahmad, supervised by Biology Professor Chun Peng
  • Andrea Angelucci, supervised by Chemistry Professor Sylvie Morin
  • Amir Binesh, supervised by Chemistry Professor Arturo Orellana
  • Monahil Chaudry, supervised by Physics and Astronomy Professor Sean Tulin
  • Carolyn Ewins, supervised by Biology Professor Amro Zayed
  • Jordan Fliss, supervised by Chemistry Professor Derek Wilson
  • Leonardo Hernandez, supervised by Physics and Astronomy Professor Wendy Taylor
  • Alegria Indio, supervised by Biology Professor Emmanuel Rosonina
  • Kabeer Karzai, supervised by Biology Professor Amro Zayed
  • Lin Ling, supervised by Mathematics and Statistics Professor Augustine Wong
  • Bilan Mohamed, supervised by Biology Professor Andrew White
  • Shahir Morcos, supervised by Biology Professor Mark Bayfield
  • Aylin Ovaisy-Moakhar, supervised by Biology Professor Peter Backx
  • Sheza Qayyum, supervised by Biology Professor Chun Peng
  • Jacob Ogbeide, supervised by Chemistry Professor Philip Johnson
  • Parinaz Soghrati, supervised by Biology Professor Katalin Hudak
  • Nadine Tan, supervised by Biology Professor Vivian Saridakis
  • Sunqiaohe Zheng, supervised by Mathematics and Statistics Professor Augustine Wong

 

International scholars to lead York’s ‘Politics of the Possible’ workshop

York University’s Department of Political Science will host a community participant and graduate student centred workshop entitled “The Politics of the Possible: Community Engagement in Momentous Times” on May 2 and 3.

The event is envisioned as a space for progressive activists, community organizers and
academics to share knowledge, build relationships and mobilize to counter domination for a world where power comes from the people. It draws inspiration from and seeks to contribute to social justice campaigns, organizations, and movements in Toronto and around the globe.

Organizers note that such activism harnesses the progressive political imagination, creates novel political spaces and practices, and is part of building a different world – a better world – for everyone. It aims to bring together more than 40 participants, including members of grassroots organizations, current and former York University political science graduate students, York faculty from political science, as well as York faculty and students from education, environmental studies, geography and social work, a York visiting scholar and a doctoral student from the University of Toronto.

Kieran Allen

The “Politics of the Possible” workshop will feature two international keynote speakers: Kieran Allen, professor, University College Dublin; and Ann Withorn, professor emeritus, University of Massachusetts (Boston).

“It is especially exciting to have two esteemed international scholars to join in these discussions,” said Karen Murray, York U political science professor and one of the workshop’s organizers. “There is so much to learn about community engagement from experiences outside of Toronto and Canada, but the process of learning will also be mutual, and hopefully also generate long-lasting collaborations.”

Murray notes the event could not have been possible without generous funding from many sponsors in addition to the Department of Political Science – specifically, Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Founders College, Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Jean Monnet Chair (York University).

The event is open to all members of the York University community. Space is limited, so attendees will be admitted on a first-come, first-seated basis. Both days commence at 9am, and take place in the Verney Room, 674 South Ross Building.

Schulich student launches non-profit to help declining bee population

Non profit to help declining bee population
Non profit to help declining bee population

A fourth-year bachelor of business administration student in York’s Schulich School of Business has created a non-profit organization to help save the declining bee population.

Ilan Kogan recently launched Feed the Bees (feedthebees.ca), which provides bee-friendly seeds to anyone who registers.

Bees are facing a constellation of environmental stressors. The effects of monoculture farming, the paving over of fields and the widespread use of pesticides are contributing to the dramatic decline of bee populations.

“In the last decade, 40 per cent of honeybee colonies in the U.S. have died,” he said. “Bees are responsible for pollinating one-third of the food humans eat.”

Acknowledging that bees need more and better foraging options for colonies to survive, Kogan decided to offer the public an opportunity to help through Feed the Bees.

“Anyone can go to feedthebees.ca, register and receive free bee-friendly seeds,” said Kogan. “We ship the seeds out for them to plant. The idea is the seeds are pesticide-free and highly attractive to bees. They help revitalize the bee population.”

Kogan reported that Canadians are very receptive to the cause, and only three weeks after launching the website he received requests for 50 million seeds.

People can also submit donations to Feed the Bees to help cover the cost of sourcing the seeds and to fund bee-related scientific research.

Kogan credits his time at Schulich for giving him the confidence and the tools to tackle broad problems like this.

“One of the great things about Schulich’s management education is that you don’t just have to look at corporate problems. You gain the ability to see problems and come up with solutions,” he said.

Before Feed the Bees, Kogan had created five startups across a diverse range of sectors.

Major homelessness prevention project will help young people upgrade education and skills

Canadian youth who are homeless now have hope for a better future thanks to almost $8-million in federal funding for homelessness prevention strategies announced April 25 during a special event at York University.

Above: From left, York University President-designate Rhonda Lenton, Faculty of Education Professor Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Homeless Hub, Melanie Redman, executive director of A Way Home Canada, MP for Spadina-Fort York Colin Vaughan, and Robert Haché, vice-president research and innovation at York U

The funding will establish the Skills Link Program to help young people in Ontario and Alberta who are homeless, or in danger of becoming homeless, get the education, job skills, work experience and training they need. It will be underpinned by a new knowledge mobilization initiative that will be launched by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness based at York University.

Adam Vaughan

Adam Vaughan, member of Parliament for Spadina-Fort York, announced the Skills Link program funding on behalf of the Patty Hajdu, minister of employment workforce development and labour.  “As we move toward truth and reconciliation in this the 150th year of experimenting with a country, we have much to learn and remember from the teaching of [Aboriginal] elders as we think about housing,” said Vaughan. “In talking to elders in Edmonton … shelter is seen as a place of healing. When you think about the role that shelter plays in the healing process, shelter becomes a place where you sleep and regenerate, recover from illness and escape the cold.”

Housing, said Vaughan, is an essential tool for healing and the funding for youth homelessness is part of a massive investment by the federal government to end a 30-year drought in housing funding. Initiatives such the Skills Link Program will offer desperately needed intervention strategies to get homeless youth into safer environments and help them heal, said Vaughan. He spoke again about that recent conversation with Aboriginal elders during which they referred to the new federal focus on housing and the effort to prevent youth homelessness as a way to “create more elders” or in other words, save lives. The project will also help the government track data and understand what works or doesn’t work when it comes to youth homelessness and federal housing strategies.

More than 1,300 youth and their families will take part in the project, which focuses on prevention of homelessness through early intervention and Housing First for Youth. Specifically, the project will be delivered through a partnership between national leaders on homelessness prevention including A Way Home Canada, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness at York University, and the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, as well as the Provinces of Ontario and Alberta, and dozens of community partners.

“Through a unique partnership with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness  based at York University, the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, two provinces and dozens of community partners, the Making the Shift project will ensure that young people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness achieve housing stability and have natural supports such as family that are essential as they receive support to stay in school or access training and employment,” said  Melanie Redman, executive director of A Way Home Canada.

The goal of the project, “Making the Shift: Reimagining the Response to Youth Homelessness Through Social Innovation,” is to ensure that young people have housing stability as well as family and other supports to stay in school or access training and employment.

In the first two years of the project, demonstration projects will take place in 10 Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray.

Stephen Gaetz

Led by York University Professor Stephen Gaetz, the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness will launch a Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab to oversee the demonstration projects and develop tools and resources to help other communities to do similar projects.  York University will receive $1.45 million of the federal funding to run the lab, which will focus on knowledge mobilization, to ensure prevention models and Housing First for Youth take root at the policy and practice levels.

“This project will not only enable over a thousand homeless youth to access education and employment, but will provide us with a much stronger evidence base about how to prevent youth homelessness and support young people who do experience homelessness to exit this situation,” said Gaetz. “It’s all about helping young people in a tough situation to move forward in their lives in a way that promotes wellness and the chance to succeed.”

The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness issued a report recently that called for a major shift in addressing homelessness, to focus on prevention. This change in direction is important for young people in particular, according to the partners on the “Making the Shift” project for which funding was announced April 25, because becoming homeless for a sustained period may affect a young person’s health and wellbeing, their educational achievement and ultimately their ability to participate in the labour market.

“We are very pleased and proud to host this announcement at York University, as it represents not only a significant achievement for our researchers at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, but also because the ‘Making the Shift’ project is very much in line with our University’s mandate, mission and values,” said York University’s President-designate Rhonda Lenton. “This is a proactive, nationwide initiative that is entirely driven by communities; it highlights the potential of strategic research partnerships and collaborations between community organizations, universities and research hubs; and the project will have a very real impact on our communities, both locally and across the country.

President-designate Rhonda Lenton

“Today and since our founding, York University has been known for a commitment to accessible education and for producing research that responds to societal needs, so this project is a wonderful extension and affirmation of that commitment and heritage,” said Lenton.

York University has been working in the area of homelessness for more than a decade through the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and the Homelessness Hub, under the leadership of Gaetz. The University made history by hosting the very first research conference on homelessness back in 2005. Three years later, the Canadian Homelessness Research Network was established to formally bring together researchers, governments, communities and people with lived experience of homelessness from across Canada in order to better mobilize research and increase its impact on policy and practice.

“Making the Shift is a prime example of how compelling evidence on models of youth homelessness prevention can inform policy and lead to a sound investment in the future for this vulnerable community,” said Vice-President Research & Innovation Robert Haché. “It is also a stellar example of collaboration and partnerships − core values at York University, which has been working in the area of homelessness for more than a decade. We are very pleased to be working together with A Way Home Canada, MaRS Centre for Impact Investing and the provinces of Ontario and Alberta in this important federally funded initiative.”