At Home/Chez Soi

At Home/Chez Soi is an innovative and ground-breaking study from the Mental Health Commission of Canada that is changing the way we view homelessness across the country. Using a $110 million federal grant, this was a four-year, five city (Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton) research demonstration project on mental health and homelessness.

Each of the five test sites also had a focus on a specific sub-population:

  • Vancouver (people also experiencing problematic substance use)
  • Winnipeg (urban Indigenous population)
  • Toronto (ethno-racialized populations, including new immigrants who do not speak English)
  • Montréal (includes a vocational study)
  • Moncton (services in smaller communities)

With over 1,000 people housed this project has provided opportunities for extensive research into homelessness and has proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Housing First solves homelessness.

Resources

Toolkit

Canadian Housing First Toolkit

 

Academic Articles

Collaboration and involvement of persons with lived experience in planning Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi project

Housing First for older homeless adults with mental illness: a subgroup analysis of the At Home/Chez Soi randomized controlled trial

Housing First for People with Severe Mental Illness Who are Homeless: A Review of the Research and Findings from the at Home—Chez soi Demonstration Project

The Impact of a 24 Month Housing First Intervention on Participants’ Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference: Results from the At Home / Chez Soi Toronto Site Randomized Controlled Trial

Bringing politics and evidence together: Policy entrepreneurship and the conception of the At Home/Chez Soi Housing First Initiative for addressing homelessness and mental illness in Canada

Understanding Community Integration in a Housing First Approach: Toronto At Home/ Chez Soi Community Based Research

The At Home / Chez Soi Project: Community Partners’ Perspectives on the Implementation of Housing First in Moncton

The Mental Health Commission of Canada: the first five years

Housing First Impact on Costs and Associated Cost Offsets: A Review of the Literature

Implementation Evaluation of a Housing First Program in a Small Canadian City

A cross-sectional examination of the mental health of homeless mothers: does the relationship between mothering and mental health vary by duration of homelessness?

Profiles of criminal justice system involvement of mentally ill homeless adults

Building Trust With People Receiving Supported Employment and Housing First Services

The impact of mood symptomatology on pattern of substance use among homeless

Chronic Pain Among Homeless Persons with Mental Illness

How did a Housing First intervention improve health and social outcomes among homeless adults with mental illness in Toronto? Two-year outcomes from a randomised trial

The role of advocacy coalitions in a project implementation process: The example of the planning phase of the At Home/Chez Soi project dealing with homelessness in Montreal

Participant perspectives on housing first and recovery: Early findings from the At Home/Chez Soi project

Health Status and Service Use in Homeless Individuals with Mental Illness: Consistency Between Self-Report and Administrative Health Records in the At Home/Chez Soi Multi-Site Trial

Bringing Politics and Evidence Together: policy entrepreneurship and the conception of the At Home/Chez Soi Housing First Initiative for addressing homelessness and mental illness in Canada

Exploring the Value of Mixed Methods Within the At Home/Chez Soi Housing First Project: A Strategy to Evaluate the Implementation of a Complex Population Health Intervention for People With Mental Illness Who Have Been Homeless

Planning a Multi-site, Complex Intervention for Homeless People with Mental Illness: The Relationships Between the National Team and Local Sites in Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project

Ending homelessness among people with mental illness: the At Home/Chez Soi randomized trial of a Housing First intervention in Toronto

The At Home/Chez Soi trial protocol: a pragmatic, multi-site, randomised controlled trial of a Housing First intervention for homeless individuals with mental illness in five Canadian cities

Homelessness, bedspace and the case for Housing First in Canada

Sustaining Housing First After a Successful Research Demonstration Trial: Lessons Learned in a Large Urban Center

"Housing First" for Homeless Youth with Mental Illness

Racial-Ethnic Differences in Health Service Use in a Large Sample of Homeless Adults With Mental Illness From Five Canadian Cities

 

Reports

The Lived Experience Circle An Advisory Committee of the At Home/Chez Soi Project’s Winnipeg Site

Implementing Housing First: Lessons from Toronto - Report #1. Housing availability, adapting to independent housing,  maintaining tenancies and implementing anti-racism/anti-oppression

National At Home/Chez Soi Final Report

At Home Early Findings Report - Volume 1 - April 2011

At Home/Chez Soi Early Findings Report – Volume 2 – January 2012

At Home/Chez Soi Early Findings Report - Volume 3 - Fall 2012

At Home/Chez Soi Project: Vancouver Site Final Report

At Home/Chez Soi Project: Toronto Site Final Report

Follow-Up Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Toronto Site

Follow-Up Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Winnipeg Site

Follow-Up Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Vancouver Site

Follow-Up Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Moncton Site

Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Toronto Site

Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Winnipeg Site

Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Vancouver Site

Follow-Up Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Cross-site Report

Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Moncton Site

Baseline Consumer Narratives of Lived Experience of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project: Toronto Report

Baseline Consumer Narratives of Lived Experience of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project: Winnipeg Report

Baseline Consumer Narratives of Lived Experience of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project: Vancouver Report

Baseline Consumer Narratives of Lived Experience of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project: Moncton Report

Implementation and Fidelity Evaluation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Cross-Site Report

Planning and Proposal Development for the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project: Cross-site Report

Conception of the Mental Health Commission of Canada's At Home/Chez Soi Project

Baseline Consumer Narratives of Lived Experience of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project: Cross Site Report

At Home/Chez Soi Interim Report

Beyond Housing: At Home/Chez Soi Early Findings Reports