Geographies of immigrants at risk for homelessness in Greater Vancouver

This research introduces methods and results that explore geographies of immigrants at-risk for homelessness. Recent immigrants, in particular, are identified as a group at elevated risk of homelessness. The research draws on a range of data sources of varying resolution including CMHC housing indicators, census data and a postal survey, to illustrate how census-based socioeconomic GIs can be improved by using highresolution data augmented with complementary primary data. Three findings are highlighted: 1) recent immigrants at-risk for homelessness-especially those spatially concentrated-are disproportionately located in Vancouver's inner suburbs (Barnaby and Richmond); 2) while the majority of recent immigrants at-risk are located in at-risk areas, a sizeable minority are dispersed in areas that are otherwise well-housed; and 3) risk of homelessness is often highly localized and misrepresented by coarsely aggregated census data.