Outline of the study

This paper explores how international collaboration between Canada and Wales has driven social innovation in preventing youth homelessness. The paper traces the bi-directional flow of ideas, policies, and practices, showing how international engagement can accelerate paradigm shifts in addressing complex social problems.

Findings in brief
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• In Canada, 35 - 40,000 young people aged 13 - 24 experience homelessness annually, with 6000 -7,000 homeless on any given night
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• 50% of people in Canada who are currently homeless had their first experience before they were aged 24; 42% of young people experiencing homelessness in Canada had their first episode of homelessness before there were 16 years old
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• Traditional crisis-response approaches leave young people vulnerable to trauma, declining health, criminal exploitation, and social exclusion
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• Wales's Housing Act 2014 introduced the innovative ’duty to assist legislation,requiring local authorities to help people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness within 56 days
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• International engagement exposed Canada to prevention-focused models from Australia, such as Reconnect and the Geelong Project/Upstream
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• The Canadian ’Making the Shift’ Social Innovation Lab has funded 29 research projects and operates multiple demonstration sites
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• Wales has been influenced by Canadian innovations like Housing First for Youth through knowledge-sharing networks. The Welsh government’s commitment to end youth homelessness by 2027 is supported by learning from international evidence and models of good practice, including in Canada
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• The focus on homelessness prevention, building on international evidence, increased funding and the role of local authority youth services in addressing homelessness ‍
• Wales’s small, close-knit policy communities with international connections have facilitated faster knowledge transfer and innovation uptake.

Recommendations in brief
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• Prioritise prevention over crisis response in youth homelessness strategies and funding
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• Where a legal duty to assist is not in place, consider an alternative approach involving public institutions, such as schools, child welfare, healthcare and criminal justice, with a mandate to offer assistance to young people at risk of homelessness and link them support
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• Monitor the impact of Social Innovation Labs as a means of bridging research and practice through demonstration projects and technical assistance
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•  Strengthen knowledge-sharing networks between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers across national borders
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• Invest in early identification programmes within schools and youth services and embed homelessness prevention approaches across housing, youth, education and health services‍
• Develop Housing First for Youth programmes adapted to young people's specific needs
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• Ensure young people with lived experience of homelessness have opportunities to inform homelessness prevention strategies and priorities
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• Invest in research and practical demonstration projects to build the evidence base for homelessness prevention.

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