Laura Funk, a sociology professor at the University of Manitoba who worked on the report, said participants said social safety net payments such as the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Income Assistance (if they were still eligible for it) are insufficient, which meant they lived in unsafe and inaccessible housing.

The report states 19 per cent of the 48 participants owned their own home and 58 per cent were renters. Ten participants were either homeless or in transitional housing at the time of the research and several indicated they had been homeless at some point.

Funk said many had to settle for low-quality housing.

“Participants spoke of feeling on guard and often scared within the spaces, worried about break-ins and so forth,” Funk said.