Colin Phillips
Adjunct Professor, The University of British Columbia’s School of Social Work
Colin Phillips (he/him) is a policy professional and educator who has spent his career finding solutions to the homelessness and housing insecurity that the most marginalized in society experience. As Housing Advisor for the United Property Resource Corporation/Kindred Works, he undertakes research and analysis that ensures that the organization’s development of affordable, purpose-built rental housing is grounded in the realities of the rental housing market, as well as an intersectional analysis that highlights the realization of the right to housing. Another key component of his role is to contribute to efforts that engage communities of faith in finding solutions to housing issues. Colin has been a social work educator for almost a decade, and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. He previously held appointments at Toronto Metropolitan University and Renison University College. Colin holds a MSW from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Policy Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University. His dissertation utilized a critical urban epistemology, which recognizes how urban environments and urban policies shape everyday life, to contextualize the Housing First method of addressing homelessness within the era of policy retrenchment. The study moved beyond narrow definitions of success that had dominated Housing First literature to examine how housing outcomes are negatively impacted by a shrinking social safety net. Colin’s other passion is harm reduction and drug policy reform. Colin lives in Vancouver, is a Registered Social Worker in BC, and a member of the Board of Directors of First United Community Ministries, a large social service provider on the Downtown Eastside.
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