Making the Shift (MtS) is a multi-year, multi-phase project, with many moving parts. But it is more than that; Making the Shift is a reimagining of our response to youth homelessness through social innovation in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for young people. Making the Shift is a partnership between A Way Home Canada (AWHC) and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) with the support of MaRS Centre for Impact Investing (MaRS).

The Making the Shift project provides leadership in helping communities and governments move away from band-aid solutions to youth homelessness through an investment in the development and testing of e ective strategies to prevent youth homelessness and to help those who are experiencing homelessness to move out of it quickly and in a sustainable way. Making the Shift is poised to provide the knowledge and evidence base to support this shift.

Toward this end, Making the Shift has implemented three demonstration projects at twelve sites across Ontario and Alberta. These large scale demonstration projects, delivered in partnership with local organizations, seek to build practical knowledge and an evidence base. Across Making the Shift, we are landing on important learning that will continue to inform policy, planning, and practice. It is this knowledge base that will allow us to better serve young people leading to greater participation in education, employment and training.

Read the report to learn more about Phase 1 of the project which runs from 2017- 2019 and Phase Two – which is discussed in further detail. Phase 2 will build on the momentum of the first Phase, expanding to incorporate key learning from the initial projects and engage new communities and partners.

Phase One of this project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily re ect those of the Government of Canada.