TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

HOMELESS PERSON [1 record]

Filter results by subject field Alphabetical list of terms

Filter results by subject field

Alphabetical list of terms

Record 1 2024-04-16

English

Subject field(s)
  • Social Problems
  • Social Services and Social Work
DEF

An individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation.

CONT

And while an unhoused person is waiting months on an affordable housing list, waiting on paperwork, waiting for disability income, or a job to come through, they need their basic needs met...

OBS

homeless; houseless; unhoused: plural forms. These terms must be preceded by the definite article "the" (e.g. "the homeless,'' ''the houseless'' or ''the unhoused"). However, the use of the nouns "homeless," ''houseless'' and ''unhoused'' as a collective noun ("the homeless") to refer to homeless people as a group can be considered offensive and should therefore be avoided in favour of using the adjective "homeless," such as in "homeless people."

Key term(s)
  • homeless
  • houseless
  • unhoused

French

Domaine(s)
  • Problèmes sociaux
  • Services sociaux et travail social
CONT

Une personne en situation d'itinérance peut être sans abri, dans un abri d'urgence, logée provisoirement ou logée de façon non sécuritaire.

OBS

personne sans-abri : La forme au pluriel est «personnes sans-abri» ou «personnes sans-abris».

OBS

sans-abri; itinérant; itinérante; sans-logis; sans domicile fixe; SDF : Ces désignations peuvent être jugés offensantes.

Key term(s)
  • personne sans abri
  • personne sans abris
  • personne sans-abris
  • personne S.D.F.
  • sans abri
  • sans logis
  • S.D.F.
  • personnes sans-abris
  • personnes sans-abri
  • sans-abris

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Problemas sociales
  • Servicios sociales y trabajo social
DEF

Persona que no puede acceder o conservar un alojamiento adecuado, adaptado a su situación personal, permanente y que proporcione un marco estable de convivencia, ya sea por razones económicas u otras barreras sociales, o bien porque presenta dificultades personales para llevar una vida autónoma.

CONT

Con los nuevos términos como "sin hogar", además de sustituir gran parte de las denominaciones tradicionales fuertemente estigmatizantes, hablamos [...] de una persona que "está" sin hogar y evitamos tener que afirmar que la persona "es" un sin hogar.

OBS

La Fundación del Español Urgente (Fundéu BBVA), con el asesoramiento de la Real Academia Española, recomienda la grafía "sintecho", en una sola palabra y sin ningún resalte tipográfico. Aunque es habitual —y no se considera incorrecto— mantener el término invariable en el plural (los sintecho, varios sintecho…), al tratarse de un sustantivo no hay razón para no emplear el plural "sintechos". No obstante, también resulta válida la escritura en dos palabras; en este caso, su plural es invariable: los sin techo, cuatro sin techo.

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© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2024
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
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