Youth Homelessness Prevention Through Education: Reimagining Quebec’s Education System as a Tool for Youth Homelessness Prevention

<span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This thesis examines how Quebec implements youth homelessness prevention practices within and beyond the education system, identifying key limitations and areas for reform. It explores whether current policies enable schools to play a proactive role in preventing youth homelessness and where additional primary prevention, secondary early intervention efforts, and policy developments are needed. Grounded in Paulo Freire’s </span><span>Pedagogy of the Oppressed </span><span>(1970), this research argues that education should not merely reflect existing power structures but actively dismantle them. Schools, as sites of both oppression and liberation, hold transformative potential in preventing youth homelessness by fostering critical consciousness and addressing systemic inequities. Using autoethnography (Cooper, &amp; Lilyea, 2022; Tilley-Lubbs, 2020; Ellis, 2009), this study draws from personal and professional field notes to analyze lived experiences with homelessness, precarity, and educational interventions. The Williams’ (2019) Coding and Thematic Exploration is used to identify recurring themes related to systemic gaps in prevention, while the Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) (Hankivsky et al., 2014) critically assesses Quebec’s Interministerial Plan to End Homelessness (2021–2026). The findings aim to contribute to the growing body of literature on educational early interventions and policy approaches to homelessness prevention, with a focus on Quebec’s unique socio-political context.</span></span>