Housing Statistics in Canada
Housing experiences in Canada: Recent Immigrants in 2018
by Jeff Randle, Zheren Hu and Zachary Thurston
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The Housing Experiences in Canada series of fact sheets highlights the diversity of housing situations experienced by different groups of people living across Canada.
Description for Figure 1
Highlights from the 2016 Census: Recent Immigrants
- Percent of the population: 2.9%
- Average age: 32 years
- Median household income Note 1: $51,154
- Unemployment rate: 12.3%
- Percent in rural areas: 2.5%
This fact sheet focuses on recent immigrants living in private dwellings. Statistics below are derived from the 2018 Canadian Housing Survey (CHS). For the purposes of this analysis, recent immigrants were identified based on survey responses of the reference person for the household.Note 1 The reference person provides information on the characteristics of each household member. More fact sheets are available on the Housing Experiences in Canada series issue page.
The National Housing Strategy Act (2019) declared that “the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law.” Adequate housing is understood in international law as housing that provides secure tenure; is affordable; is habitable; provides access to basic infrastructure; is located close to employment, services and amenities; is accessible for people of all abilities; and is culturally appropriate.
This fact sheet focuses on the experience of recent immigrants living in private dwellings using the following indicators collected and produced by Statistics Canada. These are: tenure status of household, shelter costs, housing affordability, housing suitability, condition of dwelling, core housing need, dwelling satisfaction, neighbourhood satisfaction, and household living arrangements.
While these indicators together do not perfectly measure adequate housing as defined in international law, they are nevertheless useful proxies for understanding the housing experiences of people living in Canada.
Tenure status of household
The tenure status of a household refers to whether the household owns or rents its private dwelling.Note 2 Homeownership is an important aspect of Canadian society and can affect outcomes for many housing indicators. For this reason, owner and renter households are often considered separately in housing analyses. In many cases, researchers further examine whether households in owner-occupied dwellings have mortgages on their dwellings and whether renter households pay subsidized rent.
According to the 2018 CHS, 44% of 1,153,400 recent immigrants lived in a private dwelling owned by a member of their household in 2018. This was smaller than the share of the total population (73%) living in owner-occupied dwellings.
The 512,700 recent immigrants who owned their homes or lived with someone who owned their home can be further divided into the 464,100 (40%) recent immigrants who lived in a dwelling with a mortgage and the remaining 48,600 (4%) recent immigrants who lived in a dwelling without a mortgage. Recent immigrants were less likely than the total population to live in an owner-occupied dwelling with a mortgage (49%) and without a mortgage (25%).
The remaining 640,700 recent immigrants who lived in rented dwellings can be further divided into the 66,600 recent immigrants (6%) living in subsidized housing and the 573,700 recent immigrants (50%) not living in subsidized housing. Recent immigrants were more likely to live in rented dwellings (56%) than the total population (27%), owing to a greater proportion of individuals in both subsidized and non-subsidized housing.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, tenure status | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| Owner | 512,700 | 44Note * | 26,694,500 | 73 |
| With a mortgage | 464,100 | 40Note * | 17,696,300 | 49 |
| Without a mortgage | 48,600 | 4Note * | 8,998,100 | 25 |
| Renter | 640,700 | 56Note * | 9,749,700 | 27 |
| Subsidized housing | 66,600 | 6Note * | 1,160,700 | 3 |
| Not subsidized housing | 573,700 | 50Note * | 8,570,300 | 24 |
Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey |
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Shelter costs
Shelter costs refer to the monthly dwelling-related expenses paid by households, including mortgage or rent. For owner-occupied dwellings, shelter costs include, where applicable, mortgage payments, property taxes and condominium fees, along with the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services. For renter households, shelter costs include, where applicable, rent and the costs of electricity, heat, water and other municipal services.
In Canada, the median shelter cost paid by recent immigrant households was $1,390 in 2018.Note 3 This was higher than the median shelter cost of $1,050 for all private households.
Recent immigrant households in owner-occupied and rented dwellings also had higher median shelter costs than all households in dwellings of the same tenure status. The median shelter cost paid by recent immigrant households in owner-occupied dwellings was $2,020, compared with $1,140 for all households. For recent immigrant households in rented dwellings, the median shelter cost was $1,160, compared with $960 for all households.
The median shelter cost paid by households in owner-occupied dwellings are typically larger when there is a mortgage on the dwelling, because a mortgage can represent a large portion of monthly shelter costs. Recent immigrant households with a mortgage on their dwelling ($2,100) paid more per month in median shelter costs than recent immigrant households without a mortgage ($600). Recent immigrant households with a mortgage also had higher shelter costs than all households in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage ($1,770).Note 4
Similarly, the median shelter cost paid by renter households usually depends on the presence of a rent subsidy.Note 5 Recent immigrant households in rented dwellings with a subsidy ($860) had higher median monthly shelter costs than all households in rented dwellings with a subsidy ($530). Median shelter costs for recent immigrant households in rented dwellings without a subsidy ($1,180) were higher than the shelter costs for all households in rented dwellings without a subsidy ($1,010).Note 6
| Recent immigrant households | All households | |
|---|---|---|
| median (dollars) | ||
| Total, tenure status | 1,390Note * | 1,050 |
| Owner | 2,020Note * Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,140 |
| With a mortgage | 2,100Note * Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,770 |
| Without a mortgage | 600Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 540 |
| Renter | 1,160Note * Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 960 |
| Subsidized housing | 860Note * Table 2 Note † Table 2 Note ‡ | 530 |
| Not subsidized housing | 1,180Note * Table 2 Note ‡ | 1,010 |
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Housing affordability
Housing affordability is derived using the shelter-cost-to-income ratio, which refers to the proportion of average total income households spend on shelter costs. A household is said to have affordable housing if it spends less than 30% of its total income on shelter costs.Note 7
According to the 2018 CHS, 353,900 recent immigrants (31%) lived in households that spent more than 30% of their total household income on shelter. This was higher than the 18% of the total population who lived in private households which spent more than 30% of their total household income on shelter.
Recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings (39%) were more than twice as likely to be in unaffordable housing then the total population in owner-occupied dwellings (15%). For recent immigrants in renter households (24%), the rate of unaffordable housing was comparable to the total population (26%).
Focusing on recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings, those in households with a mortgage were more likely to be in unaffordable housing than the total population. The proportion of recent immigrants living in unaffordable housing was 42% for those in households with a mortgage and 21% for the total population.Note 8
Recent immigrants in renter households with and without a subsidy had comparable rates of unaffordable housing with the total population.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, shelter-cost-to-income ratioTable 3 Note 1 | 1,144,900 | 100 | 35,669,100 | 100 |
| Spending more than 30% of income on shelter costs | 353,900 | 31Note * | 6,400,200 | 18 |
| Owner | 199,500 | 39Note * Table 3 Note ‡ | 3,895,800 | 15 |
| With a mortgage | 192,600 | 42Note * Table 3 Note ‡ | 3,568,600 | 21 |
| Without a mortgage | 6,900 | 14Table 3 Note † Table 3 Note ‡ | 327,200 | 4 |
| Renter | 154,500 | 24Table 3 Note ‡ | 2,504,400 | 26 |
| Subsidized housing | 13,300 | 20 | 269,500 | 23 |
| Not subsidized housing | 141,100 | 25 | 2,232,300 | 26 |
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Housing suitability
Housing suitability refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS), that is, whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. The indicator assesses the required number of bedrooms for a household based on the age and sex of household members, and the relationships between them.
According to the 2018 CHS, 311,900 recent immigrants (27%) were in unsuitable housing, meaning that there were not enough bedrooms in the dwelling to meet the needs of their household, according to the NOS. This rate was three times higher than the 9% of the total population living in unsuitable housing.
Recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings (19%) were also more than three times more likely to be in unsuitable housing than the total population in owner-occupied dwellings (6%). This difference was also reflected in rented dwellings, where the share of recent immigrants in rented dwellings (34%) that were unsuitable nearly doubled the share for the total population (19%).
When owner-occupied dwellings are differentiated by the presence of a mortgage, recent immigrants living in dwellings with a mortgage (17%) experienced unsuitable housing at a higher rate than the total population in dwellings with a mortgage (7%).Note 9
Recent immigrants in renter households with and without a subsidy had higher rates of unsuitable housing the total population. There was a 24 percentage point difference in the unsuitable housing rate of recent immigrants (44%) and the total population (20%) living in subsidized housing.Note 10 There was also a 15 percentage point difference in the unsuitable housing rate between recent immigrants (33%) and the total population (18%) living in non-subsidized housing.Note 11
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, housing suitability | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| Not suitable | 311,900 | 27Note * | 3,408,400 | 9 |
| Owner | 95,200 | 19Note * Table 4 Note ‡ | 1,599,500 | 6 |
| With a mortgage | 80,000 | 17Note * | 1,307,600 | 7 |
| Without a mortgage | 15,200 | 31 | 291,900 | 3 |
| Renter | 216,700 | 34Note * Table 4 Note ‡ | 1,808,900 | 19 |
| Subsidized housing | 29,500 | 44Note * | 227,000 | 20 |
| Not subsidized housing | 187,200 | 33Note * | 1,578,200 | 18 |
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Condition of dwelling
Data on condition of dwelling are used to provide some insight into whether housing is habitable. Dwellings are classified into three groups by condition: needing regular maintenance only, needing minor repairs and needing major repairs. Dwellings in need of major repairs are considered to be inadequate housing. Examples of dwellings in need of major repairs include homes with defective plumbing or electrical wiring, and housing needing structural repairs to walls, floors, or ceilings.
In 2018, according to the CHS, there were no statistically significant differences for owner-occupied dwellings when comparing recent immigrants to the total population.
Recent immigrants in rented dwellings (6%) were less likely to live in a dwelling in need of major repairs than the total population in rented dwellings (9%). This was also true for recent immigrants in rented dwellings with a subsidy (5%), where the share of individuals living in dwellings in need of major repair was lower than the total population (12%).Note 12
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, dwelling condition | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| Dwelling in need of major repairs | 89,200 | 8 | 2,556,400 | 7 |
| Owner | 47,700 | 9 | 1,657,400 | 6 |
| With a mortgage | 46,600 | 10 | 1,162,500 | 7 |
| Without a mortgage | 1,100 | 2 | 494,900 | 5 |
| Renter | 41,400 | 6Note * | 899,000 | 9 |
| Subsidized housing | 3,300 | 5Note * | 134,000 | 12 |
| Not subsidized housing | 38,100 | 7 | 761,800 | 9 |
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Core housing need
Core housing need touches on several elements of the right to adequate housing. It considers whether the affordability, suitability, and condition of dwelling needs of the household are being met and if not, whether affordable rental housing is available that meets all these needs. A household is said to be in core housing need if their dwelling falls below at least one of the affordability, suitability, or condition of dwelling standards, and would have to spend 30% or more of their total before-tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards).
According to the 2018 CHS, 20% of recent immigrants were living in households in core housing need. This was more than double the rate of the total population in core housing need (9%).
By tenure, recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings (18%) were in core housing need at a higher rate than the total population in owner-occupied dwellings (5%).
The incidence of core housing need was higher for recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage than the total population. Among recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings with a mortgage, 18% were in core housing need, compared with 6% of the total population.
Recent immigrants in renter households, both with and without a subsidy, had comparable rates of core housing need with the total population, where no statistically significant differences were observed.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, core housing needTable 6 Note 1 | 1,093,300 | 100 | 35,128,000 | 100 |
| In core housing need | 215,400 | 20Note * | 3,151,900 | 9 |
| Owner | 87,200 | 18Note * | 1,358,700 | 5 |
| With a mortgage | 78,700 | 18Note * | 982,800 | 6 |
| Without a mortgage | 8,500 | 18 | 375,900 | 4 |
| Renter | 128,200 | 21 | 1,793,200 | 19 |
| Subsidized housing | 23,900 | 38 | 342,000 | 30 |
| Not subsidized housing | 104,300 | 19 | 1,447,300 | 18 |
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Housing experiences of recent immigrant men and women
In 1995, the Government of Canada committed to using GBA+ to advance gender equality in Canada, as part of the ratification of the United Nations’ Beijing Platform for Action.
Gender equality is enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is part of the Constitution of Canada. Gender equality means that diverse groups of women, men and gender diverse people are able to participate fully in all spheres of Canadian life, contributing to an inclusive and democratic society.
GBA+ is an analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men, and gender diverse people may experience policies, programs and initiatives. The “plus” in GBA+ is not just about differences between people on the basis of gender. We all have multiple characteristics that intersect and contribute to who we are. GBA+ considers many other identity factors such as race, ethnicity, immigrant status, religion, age, presence of a mental or physical disability, and how the interaction between these factors influences the way we might experience government policies and initiatives.
The data presented here highlight differences in housing experiences for recent immigrant men and women. Compared to recent immigrant men, recent immigrant women were just as likely to live in owner-occupied dwellings, unaffordable housing, unsuitable housing, dwellings requiring major repairs, and be in core housing need.
| Recent immigrant men | Recent immigrant women | |
|---|---|---|
| percent | ||
| In an owner-occupied dwelling | 44 | 45 |
| In household spending 30% or more of income on shelter costs | 30 | 31 |
| In unsuitable housing | 25 | 29 |
| In dwelling requiring major repairs | 7 | 9 |
| In core housing need | 20 | 20 |
| Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey | ||
More information on GBA+ can be found at the Government of Canada’s Status of Women web page.
More information on the housing experiences of other subpopulations broken down by age and gender groups, immigrant status, population groups designated as visible minorities, Indigenous populations and other groups can be found in the additional fact sheets on the Housing Experiences in Canada issue page. Additional data products that focus more on an intersectional GBA+ analysis of housing experiences will also be released through the Housing Experiences in Canada issue page as they become available.
Dwelling satisfaction
According to the 2018 CHS, approximately 63% of recent immigrants were in homes where the reference person said that they were satisfied with their dwelling. This is lower than the proportion of the total population satisfied with their dwelling (82%).
By tenure, 75% of recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings lived in households where the reference person was satisfied with the dwelling. This is lower than the 87% of the total population in owner-occupied dwellings where the reference person was satisfied. For recent immigrants in renter households (54%), the rate of dwelling satisfaction was also lower than the total population in renter households (69%).
Focusing on recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings, those with a mortgage (76%) had a lower dwelling satisfaction rate than the total population with a mortgage (86%).Note 13
The dwelling satisfaction rate for recent immigrants in renter households with a subsidy was also lower than the total population. For the recent immigrants in renter households with a subsidy, the dwelling satisfaction rate was 54%, compared with 69% for the total population in renter households with a subsidy.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, overall dwelling satisfaction | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| Satisfied (or very satisfied) with dwelling overall | 726,500 | 63Note * | 29,977,600 | 82 |
| Owner | 383,100 | 75Note * Table 8 Note † Table 8 Note ‡ | 23,295,900 | 87 |
| With a mortgage | 350,400 | 76Note * | 15,267,800 | 86 |
| Without a mortgage | 32,700 | 67 | 8,028,100 | 89 |
| Renter | 343,400 | 54Note * Table 8 Note † Table 8 Note ‡ | 6,681,700 | 69 |
| Subsidized housing | 32,500 | 49 | 775,800 | 67 |
| Not subsidized housing | 310,700 | 54Note * | 5,892,600 | 69 |
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Neighbourhood satisfaction
At the time of the 2018 CHS, 78% of recent immigrants lived in households where the reference person indicated that they were satisfied with their neighbourhood. This is lower than the proportion of the total population that is satisfied with their neighbourhood (86%).
By tenure, 84% of recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings lived in households where the reference person was satisfied with their neighbourhood. This is comparable to the 88% of the total population in owner-occupied dwellings where the reference person was satisfied. For recent immigrants in renter households (73%), the rate of neighbourhood satisfaction was lower than the total population in renter households (80%).
For recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings, those without a mortgage (94%) were more likely to be satisfied with their neighbourhood than those with a mortgage (83%).Note 14 These rates, however, were not statistically different from the total population in owner-occupied dwellings with and without a mortgage.
For recent immigrants in renter households, the rate of neighbourhood satisfaction was comparable to the total population for those in households with a subsidy, but lower for those without. For the recent immigrants in renter households without a subsidy, the neighbourhood satisfaction rate was 73%, compared with 80% for the total population.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, overall neighbourhood satisfaction | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| Satisfied (or very satisfied) with neighbourhood overall | 899,700 | 78Note * | 31,255,800 | 86 |
| Owner | 432,800 | 84Table 9 Note ‡ | 23,504,200 | 88 |
| With a mortgage | 386,900 | 83Table 9 Note ‡ | 15,494,800 | 88 |
| Without a mortgage | 45,800 | 94Table 9 Note † Table 9 Note ‡ | 8,009,400 | 89 |
| Renter | 467,000 | 73Note * Table 9 Note ‡ | 7,751,600 | 80 |
| Subsidized housing | 46,200 | 69 | 840,500 | 72 |
| Not subsidized housing | 420,500 | 73Note * | 6,897,100 | 80 |
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Household living arrangements
Household living arrangements refer to whether a person lives with another person or people, and, if so, whether they are related to that person or those people. Households can be further differentiated based on whether they are census family households or non-census-family households. Census family households contain at least one census family.Note 15 Non-census-family households are either one person living alone or a group of two or more people who live together but do not constitute a census family (for example, roommates).
According to the 2018 CHS, about 81% of recent immigrants lived as part of a one-census-family household. This was comparable to the rate for the total population (79%). Recent immigrants in one-census-family households were more likely to live in a couple family with children (62%) than without (14%). The same was true for the total population, where 46% of individuals lived in a couple family with children and 24% lived in a couple family without children. Recent immigrants (5%) were also less likely to live in a one parent family household than the total population (10%).
Living in a non-census-family household was not as common for recent immigrants (8%) as the total population (16%). This is because a small proportion of recent immigrants lived alone (6%). By comparison, 12% of the total population in private households in Canada lived alone.
| Recent immigrants | Total population | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| count | percent | count | percent | |
| Total, household type | 1,153,400 | 100 | 36,444,100 | 100 |
| One-census-family householdTable 10 Note 1 | 933,600 | 81 | 28,959,300 | 79 |
| Couple family without children | 161,300 | 14Note * | 8,583,600 | 24 |
| Couple family with children | 716,200 | 62Note * | 16,782,900 | 46 |
| One parent family | 56,100 | 5Note * | 3,592,800 | 10 |
| Multiple-census-family householdTable 10 Note 1 | 125,800 | 11Note * | 1,799,100 | 5 |
| Non-census-family household | 94,000 | 8Note * | 5,685,800 | 16 |
| One-person household | 68,700 | 6Note * | 4,243,300 | 12 |
| Two- or more person household | 25,300 | 2Note * | 1,442,400 | 4 |
Source: 2018 Canadian Housing Survey |
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Interpreting the results
The Canadian Housing Survey (CHS) is a representative sample survey drawn from a frame of private dwellings across Canada. Since the survey sample is drawn from private households, individuals living in the following forms of housing are not included in the data:
- people living on reserves and in other Indigenous settlements
- official representatives of foreign countries living in Canada, and their families
- members of religious and other communal colonies
- members of the Canadian Armed Forces living on military bases
- people living in seniors’ residences
- people living full time in institutions (e.g., inmates of penal institutions, and chronic care patients living in hospitals and nursing homes)
- people living in other types of collective dwellings (e.g., shelters, campgrounds and hotels).
The survey results are an outcome of the sampling procedure that estimates a true value with an acceptable level of uncertainty. Therefore, it is not recommended to compare any two numbers published above unless the comparison is made in the text. This fact sheet features three types of comparisons:
- comparisons of estimates between the focus population group and the total population (for example, the percentage of recent immigrants in rented dwellings in core housing need, compared with the percentage of the total population in rented dwellings core housing need)
- comparisons of estimates between a category and the category total within the focus population group (for example, the percentage of recent immigrants in rented dwellings in core housing need, compared with the percentage of all recent immigrants in core housing need)
- comparisons of estimates between categories within the focus population group (for example, the percentage of recent immigrants in rented dwellings in core housing need, compared with the percentage of recent immigrants in owner-occupied dwellings in core housing need).
Each of these three comparisons provides a different insight to understand the housing experiences of the focus population group. A statistical test is conducted to see whether the two estimates are different from one another at the 95% confidence level—often stated as 19 times in 20. The test results are presented for percentage statistics in the tables on relative prevalence or median shelter costs only; test results are omitted for statistics on the associated number of people.
When other comparisons are made between sample results presented in the fact sheets or data tables, it is important to remember that it cannot be concluded with a degree of certainty that the observed difference is not attributable to variation from the sampling procedure.
About the data
The estimates presented in this fact sheet are from the 2018 Canadian Housing Survey (CHS). Additional socioeconomic and demographic highlights are from the 2016 Census of Population. For detailed information on the CHS or any of the indicators in this fact sheet, please refer to the following:
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