2023-Present: PhD Student, Geography, University of Toronto
2018-2019: Master of Arts, Labour Studies, McMaster University
Thesis: The Customer is Always Right: Violence Against 2SLGBTQ+ Service Workers in Windsor and Sudbury, Ontario
Committee – Suzanne Mills (Chair), Judy Fudge, Michelle Dion
2014-2018: Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Labour Studies, Minor in Sociology, McMaster University
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Precarious Work
Youth Homelessness
Housing
Gender, Sexuality and Work
Qualitative and Mixed Methods
PUBLICATIONS
Journal Articles
Benjamin Owens and Suzanne Mills. (2025). Conceptualizing Discrimination Against LGBTQ+ Workers in the Unbounded Workplace. Canadian Geographies/Géographies canadiennes, 69(1), 1-12.
Benjamin Owens, Suzanne Mills, Nathaniel Lewis, and Adrian Guta. (2022). Work-Related Stressors and Mental Health among LGBTQ Workers: Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey. PLOS One, 17(10), e0275771.
Amanda Noble, Benjamin Owens, Naomi Thulien, and Amanda Suleiman. (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.
Suzanne Mills and Benjamin Owens. (2021). Customer Abuse and Aggression as Labour Control Among LGBT Workers in Low-Wage Services. Work, Employment and Society, 37(3), 776-793.
Technical Reports and Other Publications
Benjamin Owens and Suzanne Mills. (2022). Research Findings: Customer Abuse and Aggression as Labour Control Against LGBTQ+ Service Sector Workers. Work in Progress: Sociology on the Economy, Work and Inequality. [American Sociological Association Blog.]
Benjamin Owens, Amanda Suleiman, and Amanda Noble. (2022). Understanding the Experiences of Youth Who Use Substances: A Needs Assessment of Toronto Youth Experiencing Homelessness. [Technical Report.]
Amanda Noble, Naomi Thulien, Benjamin Owens, Amanda Suleiman, Mithula Loganathan, Danielle Ali, Isaac Coplan, Jaime Neal, Enieda Baja, and Kavita Ramkissoon. (2022). The Impact of COVID-19 on Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Shifting to a Collaborative, Prevention-Focused Response to Youth Homelessness in a Large Urban Setting. The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. [Community Report.]
Benjamin Owens. (2021). A Pride Flag by the Door: Creating Safe and Supportive Workplaces. Our Times: Canada’s Independent Labour Magazine.
Suzanne Mills, Benjamin Owens, Adrian Guta, Nathaniel Lewis, Natalie Oswin. (2020). Work, Inclusion and 2SLGBTQ+ People in Sudbury and Windsor. [Community Report.]
Benjamin Owens. (2019). “The Customer is Always Right: Violence Against 2SLGBTQ+ Service Workers in Windsor and Sudbury, Ontario.” Master of Arts Thesis, McMaster University.
Benjamin Owens and Suzanne Mills. (2019). LGBTQ2S+ Work and Inclusion. [Community Research Brief.]
GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND AWARDS
2023-Present: SSHRC CGS-D Scholarship
2023-Present: Faculty of Arts and Science Top Doctoral Award
2023: Department of Geography PhD Entrance Scholarship
2023: Elia Scholars Program (Declined)
2019: Labour Studies Graduate Studies Award
2018: Labour Studies Graduate Studies Award
2018: SSHRC CGS-M Scholarship
2017: Undergraduate Student Research Award
2017: Harry Waisglass Book Prize
2017: Alice and Walter Day Scholarship
2017: Mary C. Shane Scholarship
2016: Larry Sefton Scholarship
2015-2016: Dr. Harry Lyman Hooker Scholarship
2015: OPSEU Global Solidarity Scholarship
2014-2015: Social Science Scholarship
2014: Presidential Award Scholarship, McMaster University
RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
2024: Benjamin Owens. “The Spatiotemporalities of Precarity: COVID-19 and Youth Homelessness in Toronto, Ontario.” Austerity and Altered Life-Courses Symposium. University of Manchester. Online.
2024: Benjamin Owens. “The Spatiotemporalities of Precarity: COVID-19 and Youth Homelessness in Toronto, Ontario.” International Geographical Congress (IGC). Dublin, Ireland.
2024: Benjamin Owens and Suzanne Mills. “Minority Stress in the Unbounded Workplace.” Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) Conference. St. John’s, Newfoundland.
2023: Katrina Milaney, Amanda Noble, Benjamin Owens. “Shelter Diversion in Six Canadian Communities: A Paradigm Shift for Youth Homelessness Prevention.” International Journal of Homelessness (IJOH) Conference. Chicago, Illinois.
2023: Amanda Noble and Benjamin Owens. “A Dark Intersection: Exposing the Structural Inequities that Lead to Youth Homelessness and Sex Trafficking.” International Journal on Homelessness (IJOH) Conference. Chicago, Illinois.
2023: Amanda Noble, Angel Power, Jess Rogers, Benjamin Owens. “A Dark Intersection: The Relationship between Youth Homelessness and Sex Trafficking.” Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) Annual Conference. Toronto, Ontario.
2022: Benjamin Owens, Noah Yang, Suzanne Mills. “Beyond Rainbow Capitalism: LGBTQ+ Workers’ Perceptions of Union Support in Windsor and Sudbury, Ontario.” CRIMT Better Work for a Better Society Conference. Montreal, Quebec.
2022: Benjamin Owens. “The Employment Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Young People Experiencing Homelessness in Toronto, Ontario.” Canadian Association of Work and Labour Studies (CAWLS) Annual Conference. Online.
2022: Amanda Noble and Benjamin Owens. “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Youth Experiencing Homelessness/El Impacto de COVID-19 en los/las Niños y Niñas, Adolescentes y Jóvenes en Situación de Calle.” Webinar hosted by Covenant House International.
2021: Amanda Noble and Benjamin Owens. “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Youth Experiencing Homelessness: Shifting to a Collaborative, Prevention-Focused Response in a Large Urban Setting.” Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) Annual Conference. Online.
2021: Suzanne Mills, Adriane Paavo, and Benjamin Owens. “A Conversation about Work, Inclusion and 2SLGBTQ+ People in Sudbury and Windsor.” Work in the West Podcast.
2021: Benjamin Owens. “Work, Inclusion, and 2SLGBTQ+ People/Le Travail, L’Inclusion, et les Personnes 2SLGBTQ+.” United Steelworkers National Women’s Committee. Online.
2020: Suzanne Mills and Benjamin Owens. “Work, Inclusion, and 2SLGBTQ+ People in Ontario’s Smaller Cities, Sudbury and Windsor.” Community Report Launch Presentation hosted by Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre.
2019: Benjamin Owens. “The Customer is Always Right: Violence and Discrimination Against 2SLGBTQ+ Service Sector Workers in Windsor and Sudbury, Ontario.” Canadian Association of Work and Labour Studies (CAWLS) Annual Conference. Vancouver, British Columbia.
2017: Benjamin Owens. “The History of Living Wage Campaigns in Hamilton, Ontario.” Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) Annual Poster Session. Hamilton, Ontario.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2025-Present: Teaching Assistant, Labour Geography, University of Toronto Department of Geography and Planning (GGR328H1)
2023-2024: Teaching Assistant, Environment, Food and People, University of Toronto Department of Geography and Planning (GGR107H1F)
2018: Teaching Assistant, An Introduction to Labour in Canada, McMaster University School of Labour Studies (LABRST 1A03)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2024-Present: Doctoral Research Assistant, Cultural Economy Lab, University of Toronto
2022-2023: Research Supervisor, Covenant House Toronto
2021-2022: Research and Evaluation Coordinator, Covenant House Toronto
2020-2021: Research Coordinator, COVID-19 and Youth Homelessness Project, University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
2019-2021: Researcher, Work and Inclusion Project, McMaster University Department of Labour Studies
2017-2019: Research Assistant, Work and Inclusion Project, McMaster University Department of Labour Studies
2017-2018: Placement Researcher, CUPE Local 5167
2017: Student Investigator, McMaster University Department of Labour Studies
2016-2017: Research Assistant, Living Wage Project, McMaster University Department of Labour Studies