Forum on Homelessness and Community-Engaged Research at the Heart of the City

Marie-Eve Sylvestre is the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa.

Keynote presentation

“Between Zones and Boundaries: A Legal Geography of Homelessness” 
by Alexandra Flynn, University of British Columbia

Professor Alexandra Flynn’s teaching and research focus on municipal law and governance, administrative law and property law. She has published numerous peer-reviewed papers and public reports as well as edited books on Indigenous–municipal legal relationships, housing and homelessness, and the constitutional status of cities. She is the director of the Housing Research Collaborative, which comprises projects funded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and SSHRC that focus on Canada’s housing crisis. These projects include the Housing Assessment Resource Tools project, which helps communities to measure and address their housing need, and the Balanced Supply of Housing Node, which brings together academic and non-profit community organizations to research responsive land use practices and the financialization of housing. Professor Flynn is also working on several projects related to precariously housed people in Canadian cities, including the governance of these people’s personal property as well as human rights and tent encampments.

Kaite Burkholder Harris is the executive director of the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa. Graduating with a Master of Public Health from the University of Toronto, Kaite worked at a systems level on ending youth homelessness with A Way Home Ottawa. She went on to work at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness with communities across the country as a system planner in housing and homelessness. Kaite also served as a policy analyst with Reaching Home, the federal government’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy in 2019.

As co-chair of the Ontario Alliance to End Homelessness, Kaite advocates with every level of government and has become a leading voice in urging governments and communities for housing-focused solutions to ending homelessness.

Sophia Kelly-Langer is the Education and Training Manager at the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa, where she leads the development of educational offerings, including the Empathy Project simulation. Her work focuses on ethical engagement and meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience in policy, programming, and systems reform. Sophia also serves on the board of the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation, a community nonprofit providing affordable housing.

Marie-Josée Houle is Canada’s first federal housing advocate. She was first appointed to the role in February 2022 and re-appointed for a three-year term on February 21, 2025. She brings with her deep knowledge, expertise and passion from a long-standing career in the affordable housing and homelessness sector. As federal housing advocate, Houle is using her mandate to spotlight key issues of national concern and provide evidence-based recommendations to address the housing and homelessness crisis.

Marc Maracle is a Mohawk from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. He has been involved with First Nations and Indigenous issues over the course of his 40-plus–year professional career. He is the executive director of Gignul Non-profit Housing Corporation, an organization focused on providing affordable housing for Indigenous people in Ottawa. Marc strongly believes in volunteering and participates in many community activities, including Indigenous culture and sports activities.

Dahlia Namian is a sociologist and full professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the coordination committee of the Clinique interdisciplinaire en droit social de l'Outaouais (CIDSO), which defends the rights of homeless people in the Outaouais region. She is also the author of the activist essay ''La Société de provocation'' (Lux Éditeur), which won the 2024 Prix des Libraires du Québec.