Benjamin Owens

I am a PhD student and urban and economic geographer in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto. My doctoral research examines the relationship between housing and work in the context of urban youth homelessness. Thinking with theories of ontological precarity, I am interested in how these dimensions of life intersect and co-produce in broader precarious life arrangements. I also explore how shelters, as sites of both living and work, shape unhoused youth’s experiences of formal and informal work and, contrariwise, how the work of unhoused youth (re)configures shelter geographies.

This work builds on my years as a researcher in the youth homelessness sector, where I played a leadership role in a variety of participatory, community-engaged, and mixed methods projects on housing, harm reduction, and youth homelessness prevention. My work has been supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (CGS-D) and, for 2025-2026, the Jonathan and Erin Gouveia Fellowship through the School of Cities.

Beyond my work with unhoused youth, I also maintain research interests in gender, sexuality, and labour in deindustrializing cities dating back to my MA research and role on the Work and Inclusion Project.

Publications

Owens, B., & Mills, S. (2025). Conceptualizing discrimination against LGBTQ+ workers in the unbounded workplace. Canadian Geographies/Géographies canadiennes, 69(1), e12971.

Mills, S., & Owens, B. (2023). Customer Abuse and Aggression as Labour Control Among LGBT Workers in Low-Wage Services. Work, Employment and Society, 37(3), 776–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170211045843

Noble A, Owens B, Thulien N, Suleiman A (2022) “I feel like I’m in a revolving door, and COVID has made it spin a lot faster”: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada. PLOS ONE 17(8): e0273502. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273502

Owens B, Mills S, Lewis N, Guta A (2022) Work-related stressors and mental health among LGBTQ workers: Results from a cross-sectional survey. PLOS ONE 17(10): e0275771. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275771

Supervisor 

Dr. Deborah Leslie

Cohort

2023-2024