Homelessness and housing issues among immigrants in the Metropolitan Area of

Vancouver
Metro Vancouvers recent economic growth and diverse cultural fabric is largely attributed to the
considerable influx of immigrants it has received over recent decades. Each year, the city welcomes large
amounts of newcomers who successfully become university students, investors, business owners and
overall contributors to the citys growth and success. Nevertheless, in many cases immigrants face dire
realities that may lead to problems attaining dignified living standards and even homelessness. This paper
aims to dissect the various factors that may lead to this social phenomenon among newcomers primarily
through the optic of Karen Andersons Thinking About Sociology: A Critical Introduction, and also
through the synthesis of additional scholarly sources. The purpose of this paper is to delineate and explore
the variables that result in immigrant homelessness and the demographics of such issue with a focus on
time after arrival in Canada, risk factors, the geographical distribution of homeless, among other
sociological notions.

The literature available, most importantly Andersons work, provides with a comprehensive case
for the condition of immigrants in Canada. According to Anderson, among the five major groups in which
low income is concentrated, recent immigrants play an important role. This by no means is arbitrary and
the evidence suggests very distinct economic factors causing immigrants to face economic disadvantages.
Anderson describes the causes of the economic hardships many newcomers face upon arrival in the
following manner: By 2005, the average earnings of a recent male immigrant had fallen to around 65 per
cent of the earnings of a Canadian-born male (Anderson, 2014). Anderson argues that this wage disparity
is mostly attributed to the labour market assigning a lower value to the educational credentials immigrants
obtain at home, despite them being arguable equivalent to those possessed by their Canadian equals.
Anderson cites Reitz in arguing that in most cases foreign qualifications, which make up 30.6% of all
post-secondary degrees held by inhabitants of the area (Statistics Canada, 2006), are worth two-thirds of

the value of a similar domestic accreditation. Another important limiting factor in wage equality is the
language barrier foreigners ought to deal with when trying to find a spot in the highly-competitive
English-speaking job market of Vancouver. Due to these conspicuous hindrances, an immigrant can
expect to achieve wage equality with the Canadian-born counterparts in at least 20 years (Anderson,
2014). During this approximate time frame in which immigrants have to live in obvious disadvantage, the
risk of homelessness is heightened. The next paragraphs will discuss what factors cause homelessness
among immigrants.

Statistics Canada, as of 2007, reports that Metro Vancouver is home to 831,265 immigrants. At
the same time, Fiedler et al claims that 13% of immigrants had a STIR (ratio of income spent on housing)
higher than 100%, while 14% of immigrants reported no family income. Evidently, this group is
overrepresented in the unemployment indicator; Metro Vancouvers unemployment rate is of 5.6%.
Furthermore, core housing need (at least 30% of income spent solely on housing) among immigrants
totaled 37.5%, a percentage even higher than Aboriginals.

Moreover, in Fiedler et als study, two thirds of responses from homeless individuals in
Vancouver cited (...) lack of income (44% of responses) and the cost of housing (22% of responses) as the
main factors the lead to their condition. Lastly, Francis and Hiebert coincide with the other sources when
stating that the availability to affordable housing (2013) is a very common risk factor for homelessness.
Evidently, the literature strongly suggest economic factors are the quintessential factor that leads to
homelessness among immigrants in Vancouver, this is especially taking into account that Vancouver is
considered to have the most expensive housing market in North America, with an average home price of
$733,335 (Financial Post Staff, 2014). In light of this, Fiedler et al mentions the following: a lack of
affordable housing, along with the increasingly low incomes earned by many new immigrants
(...)converge to make accessing acceptable housing difficult (Fiedler et al, 2006). Teixeira and Halliday,
in addition, note that factors such as low vacancy rates, language barriers, misinformation on the market,

and racist practices carried on by landlords, neighbors, and others also contribute to poor access to
dignified housing. Secondary factors that may lead to homelessness in Teixeira and Hallidays article also
are declining health upon arrival, unsatisfactory neighborhoods and living conditions, and limited social
support (2006).

Such precedent lets us to create a clear picture of the factors that act as risk factors for newly
arrived immigrants in Vancouver and the causes of homelessness and similar conditions which will be
discussed later on. Firstly, the dire outlook of the Vancouver housing market acts a the major catalyst that
harms the living prospects of immigrants. The exorbitant prices of real estate make home ownership
impossible for a vast majority of immigrants, and many have to resort to rental (Fiedler et al,2006). In
conjunction, the proportionately lower wages newly arrived immigrants receive in comparison to native
Vancouverites greatly reduces the access to most housing opportunities. This is aggravated given the fact
that Canadian society tends to regard foreign accreditations with less praise than domestic ones, and thus
full-fledged professionals may struggle to find jobs in their respective fields. This result in immigrants
receiving lower remunerations for the activities, thus making existence and residential stability a greater
struggle.
Secondly, societys discriminatory attitudes that still persist to this day and are embroiled in the
perceptions of the public are to blame. As stated by Teixeira and Halliday, some landlords may display
racist attitudes towards recently arrived migrants which can be founded on their lack of English skills,
their cultural practices and economic standing. Such derogatory views can be interpreted as the cause for
the under representation of the immigrant housing crisis in the media, for Richter et als study of the
coverage of housing struggles in major Canadian newspapers from 1987-2007 notes that 4% of all articles
published dealt with minorities, while sources previously cited that minorities represent a sizeable chunk
of those facing housing struggles. The lack of an adequate coverage and societys lack of interest in the
topic has resulted in what scholars have labeled as an invisible housing struggle.

Nevertheless, despite the odds, it is worth noting that immigrants have noticeably been observed
to have coping strategies to avoid ending up on the streets. Many newcomers face the astronomical
housing prices with resilience, and rely on their social capital and sociocultural bonds to help each other
achieve relative housing security. It has been noted that immigrants cluster around low cost and poor
residential environments, share rents, and in some cases live in crowded residences in a situation Teixeira
and Halliday refer as crowding. They further argue that this is an involuntary response to economic
duress (2010). Fiedler et al are aware of this phenomenon, and an explanation is provided: They note,
however, that immigrants and refugees avoid ending up on the streets due to coping strategies (2006).
Due to the fact that immigrants are unable to find available space in more affluent and comfortable
neighborhoods, many cluster around Richmond Centre, Metrotown, Edmonds, and Burquitlam (Fielder et
al, 2006). This source goes on to further explain this case: Low-rise rental apartments tend to be
clustered in localized pockets throughout the city, particularly in the suburban areas, and are strongly
associated with relatively high rates of low income(Fielder et al, 2006). In this way, it is possible to
understand the condition of immigrant homelessness and housing struggles as both a curse and a blessing
because this particular group of people may have access to social capital regular homeless people dont.
This can be explained because many foreigners face homelessness not because of drug addiction,
disability or other limiting factor, but because of their alienated condition. Thus, it is slowly possible for
them to be assimilated into the economic network and over time improve their housing situation.

Most governmental efforts so far have focused on the creation of emergency housing for the
homeless, as Lori Culbert from The Vancouver Sun reports, but this will only curb the crisis momentarily.
Teixeira and Halliday outline the following solutions to the issue of housing and homelessness among
immigrants: the construction of affordable housing, provision of additional transitional housing in
support of recent arrivals to Canada, and social/community development strategies within social housing
(2010). As academics have suggested, through their application of their sociological imagination, larger
social constructs are at play in this issue. Given that the causal factors and their consequences for the

housing issues immigrants face have already been delineated, now is the turn of policymakers to assess
the situation through a sociological perspective and work on attacking the problem at its root, that is,
through the creation of a more immigrant-friendly housing market in Vancouver.

Works Cited:
Anderson, K. (2014). Chapter 12: Social Stratification, Inequality, and Class. In
Thinking About Sociology: A critical introduction (pp. 288-307). Don Mills, Ontario:
Oxford University Press.
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year.
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Financial Post Staff. (2014, March 5). North America's top 20 housing markets:
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Francis, J. (2013). Shaky foundations: Refugees in Vancouver's housing market. The
Canadian Geographer, 58(1), 63-77. Retrieved November 13, 2014, from UBC Library.
Mao, Y., & Schnell, K. (2011). Homelessness Coverage in Major Canadian Newspapers.
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