• Traditionally, homelessness has been thought of people living without a roof over their head. However, homelessness can also refer to situations in which a person has a place to stay, but that place is temporary, unsafe, or unsuitable for habitation.
• The BNL categorizes homelessness into three different types. Unsheltered refers to people who are sleeping “rough,” or outside. Emergency sheltered refers to people who are sleeping in shelters. Provisionally accommodated includes people living temporarily with others, in interim, transitional, short-term housing or institutional care
• The majority of homeless persons are provisionally accommodated.

Built Environment. For almost everyone, housing represents the largest living cost. The availability, affordability, and adequacy of housing is therefore crucial to quality of life for both renters and homeowners.

Renters tend to have lower and more variable incomes and are therefore less able to afford substantial rent increases or the cost of purchasing a home. Vulnerable groups that face barriers, such as recent immigrants, refugees, and Indigenous peoples, often live in crowded or substandard housing.

Home ownership rates are an indicator of the overall level of financial independence in a community. Buying a home requires savings that many low- and moderate-income families do not have. Rising housing costs can make it more difficult to enter the housing market.

Incomes are intricately linked to housing affordability. If incomes do not keep up with the rising cost of housing, people’s ability to cover other living costs and to save for their future (education, retirement, etc.) declines.