Newcomers: Housing Circumstances, Challenges and Solutions

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Newcomers Housing Circumstances,Challenges and
Solutions

• Presentation by
• Tom Carter
• Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and
  Adaptation
• and Professor of Geography
• To
• WHHI 7th Annual Forum
• Housing and Homelessness in a Changing City
• September 18th 2009

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Newcomers are One of the Drivers of Housing Demand
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Newcomers Effect all Sub-Markets

• Concentration of refugees in the inner city
  rental market
• Provincial Nominees more likely to be suburban
  homeowners
• Selected centres outside Winnipeg the focus of
  significant growth
• Increases the demand for social/public housing

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The Basis of my Observations

• Following recently arrived refugees for three
  years
• An evaluation of the Private Sponsorship of
  Refugees Program
• An evaluation of the Provincial Nominee Program
• Approximately 350 interviews of Immigrants and
  Refugees

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REFUGEE HOUSEHOLDS
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Location of Sample Households in Winnipeg
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Improvements in Income
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Declining Incidence of Poverty
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Housing Affordability Spending 30 or More on
Housing
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Housing Design / Quality / Health Issues
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The Search for Housing

• Lack of Services Available to Help People Find
  Housing
• Just dont know much about the system, if there
  are agencies to help. Dont know how the
  experience would be, so I dont know if Id have
  the energy.
• When youre new in Canada, its so hard. Some
  have no knowledge about the culture and
  situation. Should give government housing
  immediately when you arrive until you learn the
  system and language. In settlement agency they
  push people a lot to find a house. Newcomers
  should be given a warm welcome and as much
  support as they need.
• end up wandering the streets
• dealing with too many agencies
• discouraging advice

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The Search for Housing

• Where Do I Find the Necessary Information?
• no single source of good!! reliable!! and
  current!! Information
• no one stop shop
• Where do households get their information?
• 40 from family and friends
• 17 from government agencies
• 13 from real estate/rental agencies
• 8 from walking/driving around
• BUT, is the information reliable/comprehensive?

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The Search for Housing

• Settlement Counsellors are not helpful or have no
  time to help
• The settlement counsellor walked through the
  inspection with us. The counsellor has lots of
  clients. They want to get rid of us so he kept
  saying Its good, its good.
• The settlement agency couldnt find affordable
  places for people to live. Sometimes they put you
  in a place you dont like that is not good. If
  you dont like it the counsellor says Well, I
  wont find any other place. Its very difficult
  for a person who is new to find a place on their
  own, they dont know the language, the ways.
  Housing counsellor says If you dont like it
  look for yourself.
• The housing counsellors were not very helpful
  when you are new, they give an address and send
  you off. You get lost. That happened a lot.
• There is Only Help to Find the First House

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The Search for Housing

• Support of Family and Friends
• My uncle found the place and signed the lease
  before we arrived. Then friends suggested we
  apply to Winnipeg Housing.
• The Help of Settlement Counsellors
• A volunteer at Welcome Place helped. She
  visited us at our place and immediately made it
  her mission to find us a better place. She had a
  friend who lived in this building, and found out
  how to get us into it.

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The Search for Housing

• Left Vulnerable to Unscrupulous Landlords
• Discrimination
• When looking for an apartment I made an
  appointment to see one place. When I got there,
  the man said it was already rented. But the sign
  was up for a month, and a neighbour said that it
  continued to be un-rented for another month. The
  person who did finally rent it was Caucasian. I
  dont want to make accusations but what else can
  I think?
• Landlords Require a Reference

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The Search for Housing

• Lease Arrangements They did not Understand
• The problem for so many African people is that
  they dont know their rights here, and dont know
  how to learn about them.
• My friend signed a year lease, but he didnt
  read English. No heat in the winter, no air
  conditioning in summer. He wanted to move but
  they insisted he pay full year. Newcomers need
  to know about contract details or importance of
  contract. Government must find a good place for
  newcomers because its too hard to leave it for
  newcomers to do it by themselves.

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Other Housing Issues

• Property Management /Rights and Responsibilities
• the role of caretakers and landlords (Positive)
• 54 found caretakers/landlords helpful in Year
  One, increasing to 90 in Year Three
• lack of knowledge of rights and responsibilities
• language definitely affects this issue

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Other Housing Issues

• Poor Quality Housing
• I moved from the last place because it was cold,
  bad smelling, cant control heat, cracks in all
  the walls, paint peeling off, mould in bathroom
  and on walls. I had reported all the problems,
  but no change, so moved out, but had a year
  lease, but never got damage deposit back.

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The Search for Housing

• Searching in areas with which they were
  unfamiliar
• When you move to another country you have to
  face a new culture. Its very difficult for us to
  find a place to live. We dont know how to look
  for a house dont know if area is safe.

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Neighbourhood Issues

• Negative Experience in the Inner City
• There were always drunk people around in the
  middle of the night, and children chasing each
  other up and down the halls at 3 a.m. Two times
  my wife was attacked when coming from shopping.
  There was noise from the train brakes, and the
  building was old. Nothing was fixable.
• The neighbours were doing drugs and having loud
  parties. Police coming and knocking on the door.
  When I see police, I am terrified in my country
  they terrorize you, they never help you. Needed a
  quiet place, not where fear controlled me. The
  place was not well maintained. They wouldnt come
  and fix the window. I was sharing toilet with 4
  people, not clean.
• moving away from services

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When the first environment newcomers experience
is one in which there are drug dealing, violence
and prostitution, it is not a location that
fosters good resettlement. It leads to higher
mobility, often higher housing costs associated
with moving to a new environment and reluctance
to engage in community activities. Not a
positive resettlement and social integration
experience.
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Mobility of Sample Households 2006 - 2007
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The Search for Housing

• Language Difficulties
• Reliance on Public Transportation
• Lack of a Support Group
• Public Housing Eligibility Criteria
• You cannot apply for Manitoba Housing as a
  family of 4 adults. The family structure in
  Afghanistan is different children, though
  grown-up, live with dad to support him. Here you
  cant do that if applying for Manitoba Housing.
  

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The Search for Housing

• The Role of Public Housing
• We had applied to Winnipeg Housing where payment
  is according to income. We still had the year
  lease on the other place, but moved because its
  half the cost here.

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The Search for Housing

• The Friendship Partner Match
• Their Ethnic Community
• Private Sponsors
• The Entry Program is very good. They tell us
  about housing, laws, behaviours. This is a very
  good program.

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(No Transcript)
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The Outcomes of Residential Concentrations

• The Market Place
• Competition in the market place
• Low vacancy rates
• There is upward pressure on rents
• Contributes to affordability problems
• Access to private sector accommodation is more
  difficult
• Generates longer waiting lists for social housing

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The Outcomes of Residential Concentrations

• The Landlords
• Increases discrimination in the market place?
• Landlords can become more selective
• What groups do Landlords prefer as tenants
• Selective renting and eviction generates housing
• barriers and challenges for some groups

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PROVINCIAL NOMINEES
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The Circumstances of Provincial NomineesAll
Households
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Housing Problems Identified by Provincial Nominees

• Housing availability (supply issues)
• Lack of knowledge of housing system
• Not knowing how to find housing
• Housing is too expensive
• Housing is too small
• Housing was not identified as the major
  resettlement and adjustment problem as it was for
  refugees
• Becoming a homeowner was considered one of the
  most important indicators of successful
  integration

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Provincial Nominees Urban and Rural Differences
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Provincial Nominees Visible Minority
vsNon-Visible Minority
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Provincial Nominees Length of Time in Manitoba
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Policy Relevance of Findings

• In the Housing Sector
• More affordable housing
• Review eligibility criteria for public housing
• More transitional housing units
• Limit occupancy time in transitional housing
• Better provision of current, accurate housing and
  neighbourhood information
• Better information on the housing process
• Tenant/landlord education
• Education and awareness building for the property
  management sector

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Policy Relevance of Findings

• From a Neighbourhood Perspective
• Addressing safety, security and gang issues
• Creating more welcoming communities
• More resources and staff with different skill sets

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Policy Relevance of Findings

• From a Labour Force Perspective
• Credential recognition, recognition of foreign
  work experience, language training, skills
  upgrading
• Improved labour force integration leads to
  improved housing circumstances

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Conclusion

• Housing is not a stand alone solution but
  certainly helps facilitate resettlement and
  integration
• No one ever identified episodes of homelessness
  but couch surfing living temporarily with
  friends and family occurs
• Need better integration of housing and
  immigration policy
• Newcomers face housing challenges in Manitoba but
  the situation is much worse in Vancouver and
  Toronto