Youth Homelessness in Canada - Reading Analysis

In contemporary Society, homelessness is a major problem facing Youth in Canada, especially those that live in major cities like Toronto. As I walk down Queen Street to get to work, I see a  large amount of homeless people engaged in panhandling and begging, with a large amount of them looking less than 25 years of age. According to Covenant House Canada, there are up to seven thousand homeless youth in Canada on any given night (Covenant House), with a large majority of these people being found in cities and urban centers. These youth are not only homeless, but also unemployed, with panhandling and asking for handouts being their main source of income. In the article Youth Homelessness in Canada, the author addresses this lack of traditional jobs, where the income of Homeless Youth come from non traditional jobs, such as squeegeeing, panhandling and criminal activity (Gaetz and O'Grady 247). This part of the article directly correlates to what is seen on the streets, especially downtown or more urban than suburban areas. The article also goes on to explain the informal economic activities that homeless Youth engage in depend on a variety of factors, such as when they left home, their education level, and any addictions or any physical or mental disabilities (Gaetz and O'Grady 247), with those worse off engaging in more quasi legal activities such as prostitution and criminal activities.
In order to combat this problem, proactive measures need to be taken to minimize the amount of homeless youth found in Canada. For starters, cities need to increase the amount of Youth shelters available for those without a home, in order to give those on the streets to stay for the night. However, emergency response measures such as this is only the first step solution, and as Professor Gaetz pointed out in the lecture, steps must be taken in order to combat Youth Homelessness through prevention, and better supports for those already on the streets. In addition, programs have to be set up by government agencies that would focus on providing legitimate and legal jobs for Youth that found themselves on the streets, since that would provide them with a more stable source of income than informal societal methods such as panhandling. Even if only Toronto would manage to invest money in more support for homeless Youth and by helping provide them with jobs, it would not only greatly decrease the amount of homeless in Toronto, but in Canada as a whole.

Works Citied List

Gaetz, Stephen & O’Grady, Bill (2013) “Why Don’t You Just Get a Job? Homeless Youth, Social Exclusion and Employment Training” in Gaetz, S., O’Grady, B., Buccieri, K., Karabanow, J., & Marsolais, A. (Eds.) (2013), Youth homelessness in Canada.

“Facts and Stats.” Covenant House, Covenant House Toronto, 2017, www.covenanthousetoronto.ca/homeless-youth/facts-and-stats.