Choosing where to live and finding a home

Finding suitable housing is an important settlement requirement. Securing accommodation allows immigrants to focus on other key settlement activities such as finding employment, education or training, or fulfilling other ambitions. While family and friends may influence where immigrants choose to settle, vacancy rates and housing costs may determine the type of accommodation in which immigrants will live.

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Vacancy rate low at time of interview

Six months after arrival, more than 80% of immigrants in the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) reported that they were living in rental accommodations. Availability and affordability of suitable rental housing likely influenced choices these immigrants made during their first six months in Canada.

In recent years, the rental market in Canada has changed, and has been characterized by a gradual decrease in the vacancy rate and an increase in the average rent. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)¹, the overall vacancy rate in metropolitan areas in October 2001 was 1.1%² – the lowest rate since 1987. At the same time, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment ranged from approximately $1,000 in Toronto, the most popular destination for new immigrants, to $900 in Vancouver and Ottawa, and $500 in Montreal.

Cost of housing may constitute a major expenditure for newcomers in proportion to their family income. For example, 14% of the LSIC immigrants reported no family income, while 50% of those with a family income reported that it was less that $1,600 monthly³.

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Most immigrants settled in Ontario

New immigrants settle all over Canada , however, the largest proportion choose to live in Ontario . According to the LSIC, almost six in ten new immigrants (57%) were living in this province six months after arrival and most chose to reside in Toronto (46%). Outside Ontario , large numbers of immigrants also settled in Vancouver and Montreal (15% and 13% respectively). Vancouver attracted a large proportion of Other (essentially business) economic immigrants (32%). Although Montreal , Toronto and Vancouver were the three most common Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) of residence for the LSIC immigrants (74%), refugees were less likely to settle in these areas. More than half (52%) of all refugees settled in smaller locations.

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Immigrants move quickly after arrival

The process of immigration is a period of transition and many new immigrants have limited financial resources and limited knowledge of their new surroundings. While many, such as those in the family category, may have prearranged accommodation, many others stay in temporary housing or with a relative or friend already settled in Canada.

Slightly more than half (53%) of new immigrants had, at the time of interview, lived in only one location since their arrival in Canada, 41% had moved once, and the remaining 6% had relocated more than twice. As immigrants admitted under the family reunification program come here to join other family members or relatives already established in the country, it is not surprising that approximately three quarters of them (76%) lived in only one location since their arrival, while most others (23%) moved only once. Conversely, just four refugees in ten (43%) reported living in a single place of residence since arrival, and approximately 5% said that they had moved more than twice. As well, 8% of skilled workers moved more than twice since arrival.

Among the most common CMAs of residence for new immigrants, those living in Calgary moved most frequently. Since arrival, 45% did not relocate while nearly 10% moved more than twice. Immigrants who settled in Montreal or Ottawa were less likely to have moved (57% and 59% respectively did not move).

Of the immigrants who moved since their arrival, half moved from their first place of residence (or temporary accommodation) within six weeks of their arrival. Immigrants in the family category had the longest median⁴ stay, approximately 11 weeks, while other newcomers had a median stay in their first place of residence ranging between four and six weeks.

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Most immigrants living in their own home

As described in Table 4.3, at the time of interview, more than nine in ten (92%) immigrants were living in their own residence (as owners or tenants): two thirds (67%) had the same housing arrangement as at arrival, 17% moved from the residence of a relative or a friend and about 8% moved to their home from a hotel/motel or other type of temporary accommodation. Five percent of all immigrants were still living with a relative or a friend after six months. Roughly one quarter (24%) of skilled workers immigrants found their own residence after spending some time at a relative's or a friend's. A similar proportion of refugees (27%) moved to their home after having stayed in a hotel/motel or other temporary housing at arrival, suggesting that commercial and institutional accommodations are common for refugees at arrival.

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Household size larger than Canadian average

The 2001 Census reported that the average size of a Canadian household was 2.6 persons, but the average household size for LSIC immigrants was 3.4 persons, ranging from 3.1 for skilled worker immigrants to 4.0 persons for refugees. Most LSIC immigrants reported living in two (21%), three (24%) or four (22%) person households, and were more likely to report living in a household of six or more people (12%) as compared to the Canadian average (3%).

According to the Census definition, an indicator of crowding is when a dwelling unit has more than one person per room⁵. Table 4.4 shows the distribution of new immigrants who live in a dwelling with less than or more than one person per room. Given that the likelihood of living in crowded accommodations increases with household size, the results are broken down by household size—less than four people and four or more people.

Nearly one in four new immigrants (23%) reported living in a dwelling that had more than one person per room. Refugees were more likely to report living in crowded accommodations (40%). Few immigrants living in smaller households (i.e., those with less than four members) experienced crowding (9%). However, the majority (59%) of refugees in larger-sized households were living in crowded conditions. For some immigrants, larger household sizes may be an early coping strategy used to minimize costs, or it could be a reflection of lack of suitable affordable housing.

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Housing costs consuming large portion of respondent's family income

In the LSIC all immigrants are asked about their housing costs, whether they owned or rented their residence. The following analysis on housing costs is specific to immigrants who reported that they were renting their accommodation, which encompasses 81% of all immigrants.

It is fairly common for recent immigrants to face high housing costs relative to their family or household income. Citizenship and Immigration Canada advises newcomers to expect to allocate 35 to 50% of their income for housing⁶. According to the 2001 Census, 25% of households of recent immigrants who were living in rented accommodation allocated more than half of their income to housing. The immigrants in the LSIC had been living in Canada for only six months at the time of interview and therefore, may not have had an opportunity to secure sufficient income. In fact, 14% had no family income and half of those respondents with a family income reported a monthly amount of less than $1,600.

Slightly more than half of immigrants (54%) reported spending more than half of their family income on housing, while 20% spent 30 to 50% of their income on lodging and a further 22% expended less than 30%. The largest proportion of immigrants who allocated 50% or more of their family income to housing was found in Toronto (60%), where the average apartment rent was the highest in the country.

Economic immigrants were more likely than those in other categories to spend more than half of their family income on housing. Six in ten (60%) skilled workers and more than two thirds (67%) of other economic immigrants – essentially business immigrants – reported spending more than half of their income on housing.

Fourteen percent of refugees reported housing costs greater than their family income. This may be because many refugees are entitled to federal government income support. However, more than four refugees in ten (46%) reported spending the largest share of their income on housing.

The impact of high rental accommodation costs relative to income may have varied depending on the savings immigrants brought with them to Canada . According to the LSIC, more than 85% of refugees reported no savings at arrival, while more than 90% of skilled workers and other economic immigrants had savings which for half of them exceeded $15,000 and $100,000 respectively⁷.

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Finding housing more challenging for skilled workers and refugees

Overall, more than three quarters (76%) of newcomers reported looking for housing within six months of their arrival⁸. The proportion of immigrants in the family category who looked for housing was below the average (41%), and highest for economic immigrants (90%).

Of the newcomers who looked for housing, nearly four in ten (38%) reported that they faced at least one problem or difficulty. Immigrants in the family category were less likely to report problems (15%), along with new immigrants living in Alberta and British Columbia (30%). The high cost of housing was the most serious problem identified most often. More than three in 10 (31%) who reported problems cited high costs as the problem, particularly for new immigrants to Ontario (37%).

More than 40% of individuals who had difficulty finding housing reported that they had received assistance, including more than half of the refugees. More immigrants reported receiving assistance in this area compared with the other three areas of settlement examined: health, employment, education or training⁹. Friends who were already settled in Canada were the largest source of assistance (63%). Despite the assistance received, gaps were identified with regard to the availability of information, counselling services and financial assistance.

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Conclusion

Securing suitable accommodation is an important step for many new immigrants coming to Canada . This initial analysis of the LSIC reveals that in spite of challenging access conditions to suitable accommodation in some areas of the country, many new immigrants had different housing experiences: most lived in only one place, a few moved more than once and some relied on relatives or a friend temporarily.

Among those who tried to find housing, a majority did not report any major difficulties. Nonetheless, many new immigrants, specifically refugees and skilled workers, said that they had difficulties finding suitable housing, and reported the high cost of housing and the lack of a guarantor as major obstacles.

Notes

1. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC Housing Outlook, National Edition, first quarter, 2002.

2. For privately-initiated apartments in structures with three units and over.

3. For more details on income, see the section Making ends meet.

4. The median refers to the value in weeks where half of the immigrants who moved at least once stayed in their first place of residence for a shorter period of time and where the other half stayed longer.

5. Includes the living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen and the finished rooms in attic or basement. Habitable space excludes bathrooms, entrance halls, vestibules and rooms used exclusively for business purposes.

6. Citizenship and Immigration Canada . Welcome to Canada : What You Should Know , ISBN 0-662-85304-0, 2003.

7. For more details on savings, see the section Making ends meet.

8. This statement is based on the number of immigrants who did not report that they "never tried to find housing" when they were asked whether they experienced difficulties in finding housing in Canada.

9. For more details, see the section Challenges to integration.