Abstract

Housing protocols for minors and youth in Canada bare traces of 19th and 20th century measures designed for white and Christian children deemed to be in need of heteropatriarchal care. Considering the demographic and BIPOC diversity of Independent Refugee Youth in particular (i.e., those unaccompanied and/or separated), this situated research-creation project is used, first, to map current Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing provisions for and everyday life of diverse Independent Refugee Youth in the GTA. And, second, the project is used to co-design alternative housing possibilities in partnership with GTA stakeholders—including former Independent Refugee Minors and Youth, services providers, and others. In addition to a peer-reviewed book (in progress), a series of critical service design projects undergirds the larger project and, in a research-creation vein, becomes a means to work differently. One service design project is used to develop instruments that government and service providers in particular can use to understand the spatial needs of refugee youth. Another service design project growing from the project. is a booklet that conveys research outputs in booklet form so as to be accessible to non-researchers (particularly service providers, civil servants, and politicians.) The final service design project is a 27-minute film (animated) serving as a curricular means to help users and service providers understand referrals landscapes. The project is generously funded by a grant from the Connaught Fund and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The project has full ethics review approval.