Rooted in story, trust, and relationship, the PATH Process is a community-driven way to better support our people, especially those navigating housing challenges.

The PATH Process is currently being piloted in four locations across Canada, and two additional locations are Preparation Sites in the PATH Project [Phase 2, Part 1], preparing to be future PATH communities.

Thunder Bay is an Eastern preparation site in Ontario, on the traditional, ancestral territory of the Anishinaabek Nation and Fort William First Nation, signatory to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850, and the Métis.

While PATH is a national, Indigenous-led framework, each community brings it to life in its own way. In Thunder Bay, the PATH Process is guided by local knowledge through the PATH Working Group, led by the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre (TBIFC).

TBIFC is the Indigenous Community Entity for Thunder Bay. Rooted in culture, TBIFC strengthens the lives of Indigenous people by providing holistic supports, services and advocacy. The Reaching Home: Thunder Bay Homelessness Plan (2019-2024) reports these community-wide outcome goals: that chronic homelessness, new inflows into homelessness, and returns to homelessness in Thunder Bay are reduced by 50% by 2027/2028, and that homelessness in Thunder Bay is reduced overall and especially for people who self-identify as Indigenous.

This pilot is about more than testing a new tool. It is about reclaiming how we listen, support, and walk alongside one another in ways that reflect our people, our stories, our strengths, and our communities.

Mainstream tools (e.g., VI-SPDAT) often ask the wrong questions in ways that feel disconnected from real housing needs.

The PATH Process was co-created by Indigenous communities coast-to-coast-to-coast, alongside the National Indigenous Homelessness Council, in response to a national call for change. Through the PATH Process, we:

• Honour stories and strengths
• Build relationships, not reports
• Make housing decisions with heart, not just data

Annika Gregg
Community-Based Pathfinder, Thunder Bay
📧 annika.gregg@tbifc.ca
🔗 Visit: tbifc.ca

Local Support Partners

• Community-based PATH Working Group members
• Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre
• Thunder Bay Urban Aboriginal Advisory Committee
• Alpha Court
• Coordinated Housing Access Table
• Dilico Anishinabek Family Care
• Kinna-aweya Legal Clinic
• Lakehead Social Planning Council
• Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)
• Shelter House
• Thunder Bay Housing and Homelessness Coalition