Northern women more vulnerable to homelessness: report

Women in Canada's North face unique and tough challenges that make them especially vulnerable to homelessness, according to a pan-territorial report released Wednesday.

The first report on women's homelessness in the North was prepared for a coalition of women's groups in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.

"One thing that we've found, which is quite striking for all of us, is that everybody is potentially at risk," said Charlotte Hrenchuk, the program co-ordinator with the Yukon Status of Women's Council.

The report, titled You Just Blink and It Can Happen, is based on interviews with 205 homeless women from all three territories about their situations.

Authors of the report estimate that at least 1,000 women are homeless across the North, including 500 in Yellowknife and 300 in Iqaluit. Adding the women's children can raise the total number to well over 2,000, the report says.

"The North does have special situations that exacerbate things," Judie Bopp, the report's principal researcher, told CBC News Wednesday from Ottawa, where the report was released.

"The result is often catastrophic for women."

Bopp said what stunned her most was how close all northern women are to becoming homeless, compared to women in the southern provinces.

"There's just no cushion," she said. "Calgary is a difficult place to find shelter now, but there are so many more resources. And a lot of the policies that affect women in the North are policies that were developed for situations in the South."

The report calls for more affordable housing, but it notes that the factors leading to homelessness extend beyond a lack of housing. It found the harsh, cold climate and isolation in Canada's North are factors leading to homelessness, but they also tend to hide the problem.

"In the North, homelessness tends to be invisible; people are not living on the street as you often see in southern cities because the harsh weather prevents them from doing so," the report states in part.

"On the most frigid days of the year, the climate can reach 60 below zero, forcing penniless women to pile into local establishments, hoping to make a cup of coffee span the day, or gathering at a friend or family member's already overcrowded home."

The report also found that many homeless women experienced abusive relationships, with their partners forcing them out of their homes. Still, many women often return to live with their abusive spouses after cycling through homelessness and living in emergency shelters.

"If they've left an abusive spouse or partner, they're going to go back because that's better than being out in the cold with their kids or by themselves," Hrenchuk said.

Spousal abuse higher in North: StatsCan

Statistics Canada data that came out last year found women in the North face higher spousal abuse rates than the rest of the country. It found that 12 per cent of adults in the territories experienced spousal violence in the previous five years, compared with seven per cent in the provinces.

Other factors, such as the high cost of living and inadequate support systems, can lead to homelessness, the report found.

"I was trying to find a place for a while and I know that even one-bedrooms are … $1,200 a month," one homeless woman told CBC News at the Centre for Northern Families in Yellowknife.

"It's quite a bit for one person to pay, so you need, like, a couple of jobs to pay rent and utilities and food and stuff."

Wednesday's report came with 16 recommendations, including one calling on the federal government to implement a housing program for women.

It demands that governments boost low-income housing that is safe and decent, as well as put more money into emergency shelters.

The report also calls for governments to create priority-housing policies for women leaving abusive relationships, as well as more funding for services to address the issues that lead to homelessness.

"One of the big things is addictions, mental health issues for sure," said Cavelle MacNeil, a worker at the Centre for Northern Families.

"Sometimes [a] lack of support. And housing; just lack of housing."

The report was prepared for the Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council, the YWCA of Yellowknife, the Yellowknife Women’s Society and the Yukon Status of Women's Council.