Bite-sized chat: Housing First in Canada and the USA, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Our fourth Bite Sized Chat for 2026 is with Iain De Jong, President and CEO of OrgCode Consulting. Iain has over 30 years of experience spanning direct service, public policy, systems planning, and executive leadership, he is a trusted expert known for providing practical, evidence-informed guidance to everyone from mayors and senior officials to frontline outreach and shelter staff, he has also literally written The Book on Ending Homelessness.

With our final bite size chat in the series – we explore the shifting environment Housing First finds itself facing in Canada and the US, and the lessons this could teach us for Australia. Housing First began in the US and has grown into an evidence-based best practice model meeting the needs of people experiencing persistent homelessness and co-existing challenges. It has also been embedded into the ending homelessness work as an approach to drive systems change. Shifts in the political landscape are having a significant impact on this work. Join us for a conversation with Iain de Jong as he unpacks what this means for advocates and practitioners and how we can learn from this to proactively strengthen our own Housing First narrative and messages.

21/07/2026 News and EventsWAAEH