Can Canada become home without a house? The intersectional challenges to housing and settlement among refugees

Abstract

AbstractService providers’ crucial roles in securing housing for refugees in Canada is a topic scantly addressed in the broader literature. A focus on frontline workers in the housing and settlement sectors offers a productive analytic lens to map the critical link between service provision and housing access for refugees. Based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with service providers across nine organizations in Toronto, Canada, this study illuminates housing access barriers, such as lack of affordable housing and perceived housing discrimination. Furthermore, this paper unearths the intersectional praxis of frontline workers. Broadening the analytical frame to include an intersectional lens centring race, class, immigration status, and gender, this paper enriches current scholarship on 1) housing inequality, 2) refugee settlement, and 3) intersectionality. This paper also makes an epistemic intervention in the evolving field of housing studies at critical junctures. While this research was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study reflects on the added complexity of the pandemic to refugees’ housing access.Keywords: Housing inequalityintersectionalityaffordable housingrefugeessettlementsocial service provision AcknowledgmentThank you to all of the service providers who participated in this project. Your knowledge, experience, and insights made this paper possible.A special thank you to my post-doctoral supervisor, Dr. Marieme Lo, for reading several drafts of this paper. Your insights and support throughout the years were integral to the completion of this paper. I would also like to thank my PhD supervisor, Dr. Rachel Silvey, and the entire dissertation committee for supporting this work. Lastly, a big thank you to all of my family and friends, including Sumaya, Thom, Killian, Ashley, and many more, for all of your support, edits, and encouragement.In addition, I would like to thank the reviewers of this paper for their valuable comments.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Notes1 These statistics are non-inclusive of the recent displacement of Ukrainian refugees resulting from the current Russian invasion.2 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is the federal governing body that develops and regulates policies related to immigration in Canada.3 There are different admission categories and classes to immigrate to Canada. These categories include economic immigrant, family-sponsored, and refugees. There are also different categories of refugees, which include government-assisted refugees (GARs), privately sponsored refugees (PSR), blended visa office-referred program (BVOR), and refugee claimants. GARs, PSRs and BVORs, are considered resettled refugees and are designated refugees prior to arrival to Canada. Refugee claimants are those who make a refugee claim, while living or arriving in Canada.4 Frontline staff were contacted via e-mail from a list of organizations available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website (https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/services/index.asp). The list of organizations contacted was based on several criteria, including the presence of a settlement worker and/or housing worker, the availability of settlement and/or housing services available, and the ability to provide programs or services to diverse refugees. A snowballing approach was then adopted to contact service providers referred by other research participants. The snowballing method was useful as some organizations initially contacted for this study were unresponsive.5 Although there are some organizations that operate within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), those interviewed for this study worked within the city of Toronto, including Scarborough and Etobicoke.6 Due to the limited private spaces available within each organization and to maintain privacy, only three of the interviews were tape-recorded and manually transcribed by the principal investigator. The remaining interviews were documented by the principal investigator using detailed field notes.7 The Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) is a Federal program that provides support to Government Assisted Refugees. It provides both income support for the first year upon arrival to Canada as well as specific services to help with settlement. These services are administered by select service provider organizations.8 Ontario Works is Ontario’s social welfare program for people who are unable to work or cannot find current employment. Financial assistance is provided on a monthly basis.9 The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is a specific financial and social program for those who have a disability. Financial assistance is also provided on a monthly basis.10 These vacancy rates are reflective of the primary rental market in Toronto.11 Regent Park is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto consisting of a public housing project managed by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC).12 There are also negative health impacts on overcrowded housing, especially during a pandemic where it is important to self-isolate when contracting COVID-19. However, multiple families living in one unit is sometimes the only available option for those living on low incomes.13 In Ontario, landlords are legally allowed to request a guarantor. This is someone who agrees to pay the rent in case the tenant on the lease fails to pay and/or moves out earlier than the agreed upon date within the lease.14 Refugee claimants and those seeking asylum will be used interchangeably throughout this paper.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMary-Kay BachourDr. Mary-Kay Bachour is a postdoctoral fellow in the Women & Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto, where she investigates the shelter and housing experiences of racialized refugee women in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Dr. Bachour received a Ph.D. in Geography and Planning and an MA in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include refugee and migration studies, feminist geographies, transnational and antiracist feminism, critical urban studies, service provision, housing access, housing crisis, equity, and justice.