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. A series of service design projects undergirds the project and, in a research-creation vein, becomes a means to work differently. The project is generously funded by a grant from the Connaught Fund and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The project has full ethics review approval.