Increasingly, the notion of “Housing First” has been promulgated internationally as the turnkey solution to homelessness. In Canada, government investment in Housing First has become de rigueur from coast to coast. This paper proposes the extension of Housing First as a guiding philosophy underpinning systemplanning approaches to address homelessness. From a practical standpoint, the paper outlines essential elements involved in implementing Housing First from a systems perspective. The proposed approach sheds light on the potential application of system planning across, and within, other areas of social policy.