I think that's a brilliant idea. I hope you'll come to our symposium in the fall, because we're trying to upstream ideas about how to deal with that piece.
I believe there is no single housing solution. Most of us on our research team fundamentally believe that, even if students aren't getting SSHRC-CGS or other grants, as soon as they enter graduate school, there should be some form of housing subsidy to help guarantee that basic need. Really, the difficulty they are having with precarious housing is leading to them failing their own goals.
Yes, I think it's a great idea.