Performative gratitude: A barrier to understanding the needs of older migrants experiencing homelessness in Canada

Kusari, K., Walsh, C. A., Sussman, T., & Canham, S. L. (2026). Performative gratitude: A barrier to understanding the needs of older migrants experiencing homelessness in Canada. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement. Published online 2026:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S071498082610083X

Abstract

Background

Canada’s aging population faces a growing homelessness crisis, affecting groups such as older migrants. Older migrants experiencing homelessness may encounter intersecting forms of housing precarity, exclusion, and marginalization that shape their relationships with the host country and service systems.

Objective

Using a postcolonial lens, this study explores how older migrants experiencing homelessness navigate housing precarity and relate to the host country, with particular attention to the role of gratitude in their experiences of housing and support.

Methods

The study draws on 22 qualitative interviews with older migrants experiencing homelessness across three Canadian cities. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns in participants’ experiences and narratives.

Findings

Performative gratitude emerged as an overarching theme, with experiences of exclusion and marginalization and comparative frameworks of safety identified as key sub-themes. While participants expressed appreciation for receiving housing and other forms of support, this gratitude was often rooted in trauma, social norms, and perceptions of relative safety. In some cases, performative gratitude masked unmet needs and constrained participants’ ability to critique services or advocate for change.

Discussion

Gratitude can function simultaneously as a survival strategy and as a mechanism that may reproduce silence around unmet needs. These findings call for a shift from charity-based housing supports toward rights-based, culturally responsive systems that recognize older migrants experiencing homelessness not merely as recipients of aid, but as rights-bearing individuals. More equitable housing responses should create spaces in which appreciation and critique can coexist without jeopardizing access to essential support.

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