What I’ve learned from other countries’ battles with homelessness
La version française de ce billet se trouve ici.
On 28 May 2026, I gave a presentation at the Data That Makes a Different conference in Calgary, co-hosted by the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. The title of my presentation was “What I’ve learned from other countries’ battles with homelessness,” and my slides are available here.
Here are 10 things to know:
1. I’ve been organizing study tours since 2023. Sometimes I do this in partnership with another organization, and other times I organize my own. I’ve taken groups to New York City, London (UK), Edmonton, Calgary, Helsinki, Dublin, and Belfast.
2. Each study tour has a similar structure. It’s usually five days long; sometimes it covers one city, and other times two cities. Each one also includes several webinars beforehand so that participants can ‘hit the ground running’ once they arrive in the destination city or cities.
3. It can take up to two years to plan a study tour. The pre-planning involves identifying potential partners (i.e., local organizations that would like to help). It also involves a bit of culling on my part (i.e., zeroing in on the most innovative programs and sites for study).
4. Professional networking is key. Participants are largely senior leaders, meaning we get a lot of CEOs, Executive Directors, Vice Presidents, and Directors. They usually come from different cities, so the study tour offers them an opportunity to get to know their peers who work elsewhere.
5. Each study tour culminates with a robust report. I take copious notes during webinars and throughout the actual study tour (I also ensure quality control by sending draft notes to presenters for their review). The report provides each participant with a ‘take away’ document which also becomes a public document.
6. We learned three important lessons in New York City. First, legal rights don’t always generate their intended outcomes. Second, Safe Havens offer emergency accommodation that allows for more privacy than other emergency options. And third, public libraries can work well with family shelters (details about all of these findings are here).
7. In London, we learned about scale. They have several non-market housing providers with over 100,000 housing units each. Also in London, we learned about an Uber-style approach to maintenance, an app where concerned citizens can call for help when they see a rough sleeper, and a prison in-reach service that helps inmates transition into community while remaining housed (details here).
8. In Helsinki, we learned that high levels of public social spending can result in virtually no visible homelessness. Finland has robust public social spending, including targeted spending on non-market housing and demand-side assistance for housing (i.e., financial assistance that helps tenants afford expensive rent). In Helsinki, we saw no rough sleeping at all (details here).
9. In Belfast, we learned that innovative housing policy often involves some risk. Local officials there developed a Housing First approach for youth that involves ‘out of the box thinking’ (including pickups of high-risk youth at parties and night clubs where they can be very vulnerable). Such approaches don’t always make funders feel at ease, especially in a program’s early days (details here).
10. Amsterdam will be our next adventure. We look forward to learning about the country’s approach to harm reduction, the role of people with lived experience, and innovative approaches to youth homelessness prevention, all in a country with more non-market housing per capita than any other OECD country. This study tour will take place in February 2027 and you can register here!
In sum. I have never heard a study tour participant regret their experience. Study tours are a great way to learn about innovative approaches to homelessness and non-market housing, all while engaging in some first-rate professional networking.
I wish to thank Jenny Morrow, and Annick Torfs for assistance with this blog post.
