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Report finds need for better measures to help people who are experiencing homelessness retain their belongings.

highlights a need to rethink practices that impact what happens to people鈥檚 belongings when they don鈥檛 have control over the spaces where they live.

Geography professor Nick Blomley and collaborators Alexandra Flynn from UBC鈥檚 Allard School of Law and Marie-Eve Sylvestre from the University of Ottawa鈥檚 Faculty of Law analysed current laws, policies and procedures and outline how they control the belongings of precariously housed and unhoused individuals across Canada.

Aimed at an audience of policy makers, regulators and legal advocates, the report describes the regulatory landscape across four broad spaces 鈥� streets, parks, private rentals and non-tenancy accommodations, like shelters and rooming houses. It also highlights the lack of clear and easy means for retrieving seized items.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e a person who doesn鈥檛 have control over your space, there is nowhere you and your belongings can be where you won鈥檛 be governed by forms of control or regulation,鈥� Blomley says.

For example, he explains that shelters often have strict rules on when, what and how many belongings can be brought in. Meanwhile, belongings in parks or on sidewalks are often deemed obstructions or garbage, and constantly threatened by theft, seizure or disposal. When items are seized by public or private officials, there are often significant barriers to getting them back 鈥� if there is a way at all.

The effects of this are profound, impacting people鈥檚 health and survival, as well as their emotional wellbeing and sense of self. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a sense of being devalued鈥�of you and your belongings being treated as less-than鈥攚hich they are because they鈥檙e not being protected,鈥� he says.

The report points out that provincial and municipal legislation both have direct impacts on a person鈥檚 tenancy and their rights to their personal belongings.

Residential tenancy legislation offers certain protection to tenants, however gaps remain, especially for people in precarious housing situations where there is a lack of clarity of tenant rights, and inherent power imbalances in what is often the only affordable housing available.

Finding ways for all levels of government response to complement one another may be an important step in addressing an ongoing housing crisis and ensuring tenant and landlord rights are clear, transparent, and equitable, the report suggests.

鈥淭he principle and value of human dignity should seek to facilitate the ability of people to retain their belongings wherever possible, especially those belongings that are critical to their survival,鈥� the report authors note. 鈥淭he increasing public awareness of the issue has created an opportunity for enforcement authorities to examine, reform, and abolish current policies and practices that perpetuate housing precarity and put people at further risk of harm.鈥�

鈥淲e need to recognize that unhoused people have property rights. Just like all property rights, there need to be remedies, like prevention, compensation, and punitive actions against those who seize property without the right to do so,鈥� says Flynn. 鈥淭here are short-term solutions: Municipalities can and must give notice, and options for people to safeguard their belongings close by. But the real remedy is housing.鈥�

While there is existing literature on homelessness and the challenges of decampment, there is surprisingly little research about the importance of belongings, Blomley says. However, 鈥渟tuff鈥� is a consequential aspect of the experience of marginalization:

鈥淭o be homeless and outside doesn鈥檛 necessarily trigger stigma, or somebody getting upset and calling the police. But if you see someone with their stuff 鈥� like a shopping cart 鈥� you are identified as homeless,鈥� Blomley observes. 鈥�It鈥檚 not an offense to be in a public park; it鈥檚 an offense to have a tent during the day in a public park. It鈥檚 not an offense to be on a sidewalk; it鈥檚 an offense to have stuff on the sidewalk.鈥�

By holding up marginalized voices and concerns, Blomley hopes the report and their research at large can counter stigma and 鈥渙thering鈥� by providing a broader perspective to regulators and the greater public.

鈥淥ur stuff matters to all of us, whoever we are. And I think at one level we can all hopefully understand that.鈥�

In tandem with the launch of the report, will take place on November 2^nd.

Read the report at