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I was awarded my PhD in Political Science from York University in 2019, with a focus on Canadian and comparative politics. During my doctoral studies, I spent time as a visiting scholar at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Prior to joining Laurier, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Guelph, with a joint appointment to the Political Science Department and Community-Engaged Scholarship Institute. I grew up in Hamilton, Ontario and was the first person in my family to attend university, though my siblings soon followed!
My work focuses on community-engaged approaches to publicy problems, and I engage with a number of analytical lenses including intersectionality based policy analysis, human rights discourses, and political economy (broadly defined). I focus on the relationship between structural inequalities and public policy problems. Current research projects focus on policy responses to encampments, eviction prevention, and lived expertise leadership in policymaking.
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2025-28 SSHRC Partnership Development Grant (applicant, with Tobin LeBlanc Haley) Staying Home 2.0: Rent Banks, Housing Stability and Eviction Prevention Across Canada
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2025-27 MITACS Accelerate Grant with the Region of Waterloo Housing Services (applicant, with Erin Dej) Using Intersectionality Based Policy Analysis to Develop a Policy Framework to Address Chronic Homelessness in Waterloo Region
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2025-26 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant (applicant) Community-Led Responses to Homelessness: A Case Study of A Better Tent City (ABTC)
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2023-26 SSHRC Insight Development Grant (applicant) Realizing the Right to Housing: Municipal Policy Responses to Encampments in Canada
I am happy to supervise graduate students in the areas of Canadian politics, social policy, poverty governance, community-engaged approaches to political science, and housing and homelessness.
2026 Pin, L., +Ermeta, N., +Barnett, N.R.G., & +Suthakaran, A. (2026). More than Shelter: A Case Study of Wellbeing in a Sanctioned Managed Encampment in Ontario, Canada. International Journal on Homelessness. (online first) 1-23. (75%)
2026 Pin, L., Dej, E., +Macdonald, S., & ^Ahmad, S. (2026). How to Use Honoraria for Inclusive Research With People Who Are Unhoused. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036249021(70%)
2026 Levac, L., Chan, W. Y., Pin, L., & ^Ramdatt, J. (2026). Cocreating Local Governance: Meaningful Engagement in Local Policy Development. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036249328 (15%)
2025 Pin, L., +Barnett, R.G., +Ermeta, N., and +Suthakaran, A. ‘Community Beyond Expectations': The Role of Autonomy and Care in Managed Encampments. Urban Geography. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2025.2561958
2025 Levac, L., Pin, L., +Buchnea, A., Malenfant, J., and ^Annan, J. (2025). A national housing strategy for whom? Possibilities and limits in Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) for a rights-based housing regime. International Journal of Housing Policy, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2025.2484046
2025 Haley, T., Woodhall-Melnik, J. Pin, L. and +Durell, S. New Roles Amidst Crisis: Comparing Municipal Affordable Housing Strategies in New Brunswick. International Journal on Homelessness: 5(1): 78-96. https://doi.org/10.5206/ijoh.2023.3.16837
Graduate
PO604 Applied Policy Analysis
PO627 Policy Research in Action
Undergraduate
PO245 Public Policy in Canada
PO312 The Politics of Cities and Regions
PO263 Politics and Government in Canada
2025 Pin, L., Brusse, R., Ahmad, S., and Dej, E. Realizing the Right: Municipal Policy Responses to Encampments. https://www.mymothernamedmesunshine.ca/uploads/1/9/8/0/19802911/rtr_report_2026__rethinking_municipal_responses_to_encampments_building_a_human_rights_approach_in_ontario__2_.pdf
2024 Piscitelli, A., Ornelas, V., Hayes, N., Guevara, M., Lovell, M., and Pin, L. Credit Unions and Housing Affordability: Canadian Trends and Opportunities. Conestoga Social Innovation Lab. https://research.conestogac.on.ca/research-publications/publications/credit-unions-and-housing-affordability-canadian-trends-and-opportunities
2024 Haley, T. and Pin, L. Staying Home: The Role of Rent Banks in Enhancing Housing Stability for Canada’s Renter Households. Report for the Canadian Rent Bank Coalition. www.rentbanks.ca
2024 Pin, L., Barnett, N.R.G., Ermeta, N., and Suthakaran, S. “A Place to Find Community” Findings from the A Better Tent City Survey. Report hosted by Social Development Centre Waterloo Region. https://civichubwr.org/a-better-tent-city/
2023 Pin, L., Forma, L., and Petrovic, A. Civic Engagement and Grassroots Organizing through the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Civic Hub Waterloo Region. Report hosted by Social Development Centre Waterloo Region. https://www.waterlooregion.org/sites/default/files/CivicHubReport-2023.pdf
2022 Brown, A., Gillies, S., Marshall, V., Mcgurk, Hannah, and Pin, L. Homeless Encampments Through a Human Rights Lens. Report hosted by Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/homeless-encampments-through-human-rights-lens
2022 Levac, L., Buchnea, A., Pin, L., Karyar, R., Annan, J., Morton, E. and Malenfant, J. A National Housing Strategy By and For Whom? Report prepared for the National Housing Council. https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/place-to-call-home/pdfs/national-housing-council/nhs-a-national-housing-strategy-by-and-for-whom-en.pdf?rev=9090b766-002c-4e4a-a757-0502aeca9f9b