Canada housing unaffordable for immigrants

And high costs of housing are one of the major deterrents for immigrants wanting to live in Canada. This has been revealed by findings of a latest study undertaken by UBC. Finding houses in Canada is really difficult for immigrants, states professor of geography at UBC, Daniel Hiebert.

Housing in Canada a critical issue for immigrants--And things become complicated even more for immigrants facing language barriers or those with big families, adds Hiebert. No wonder, majority of immigrants including refugees in Canada spent half of their earnings on housing, findings of the study involving 600 immigrants in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto show.

Low income makes housing unaffordable in Canada—The study analyzed that average income of immigrants forming part of the recent UBC survey was below $20,000 while average income in cities was around $69,000. And average prices of houses in Vancouver are nothing less than one million dollars.

As a result, majority of immigrants as well as Canadians falling in the low-income group have no option but to move into a rented accommodation, the research clarified.

This also made immigrants vulnerable to unscrupulous landlords in Canada, the report further maintained. Agrees director of Settlement Services for MOSAIC (Vancouver), Sherman Chan.

Housing problems for immigrants-- Many landlords in Canada are taking advantage of lack of knowledge of immigrants by charging high rents for houses with poor living conditions. Rooms don’t have proper lighting and sanitary conditions are also worse, Chan adds.

With a major proportion of income spent on housing, immigrants have to cut back their expenses on food, education or other costs, he states. And immigrants choosing to shift eastwards for getting cheaper accommodation on rent, they have to shell out bucks on moving to and fro for their jobs in Vancouver.

Canada needs immigrant settlement schemes--Lack of proper housing or homelessness is proving a major hindrance for immigrants wanting to get settled in Canada.

And Canada must work towards solving this issue by creating schemes for assisting immigrants in getting affordable housing, states Hiebert.

This can help in overcoming language and communication barriers for getting settled in Canada.