Abstract

<div>Toronto continues to be a major recipient of refugee claimants and understanding the complexities of their housing trajectories is critical in ensuring they successfully integrate into society. This Major Research Paper (MRP) sets out to expand current understanding about challenges refugee claimants face in their search for permanent housing in the City of Toronto and highlight the coping strategies they have developed to navigate around these barriers. In 2011, a research team led by York University urban social geographer Valerie Preston completed a comprehensive study that compared the housing experiences of different immigrant groups, including refugee claimants, as part of a larger Pan-Canadian study. This study set the foundation</div><div>for my research, as I followed the same methodological path to determine if Preston’s findings still hold value and what new trends have emerged. This paper provides a high-level overview of Toronto’s Housing Market and provides background on the current state of refugee housing in</div><div>the City of Toronto to illustrate the intricacies of the local context. In order to understand the barriers, qualitative research in the form of expert interviews was also conducted with service providers who offer settlement services to refugee claimants. A total of seven interviews were</div><div>conducted, transcribed and analyzed to identify themes. Interviews with service providers revealed that the most significant barriers were housing market and Affordability, employment, Toronto- specific programs, and systematic gaps. Common coping mechanisms on the other hand, included sharing accommodation and moving beyond the GTHA. Comparisons are made throughout this paper between findings from the Preston study and my research findings.</div><div>Keywords: refugee claimants, refugees, Toronto, discrimination, housing affordability.</div>

Highlights

  • Toronto is the main immigrant destination in Canada and continues to be one of the largest recipients of Government Assisted Refugees (GAR’s), Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSR’s) and refugee claimants (City of Toronto, 2019a)

  • Through exploring different Canadian studies on the housing trajectory of refugee claimants it is evident that they tend to face similar challenges in their search for adequate housing across provinces and cities. The majority of these studies have focused on challenges and barriers to obtaining permanent housing. The purpose of this Major Research Paper (MRP) is to revalidate barriers that continue to affect refugee claimants’ search for housing, determine what new barriers have emerged and how they are navigating them in their search for permanent housing

  • This paper has explored the challenges refugee claimants face and the coping strategies they have developed in their search for permanent housing in the city of Toronto

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Summary

Introduction

Toronto is the main immigrant destination in Canada and continues to be one of the largest recipients of Government Assisted Refugees (GAR’s), Privately Sponsored Refugees (PSR’s) and refugee claimants (City of Toronto, 2019a). In 2013, there were 10,375 refugee claimants in Canada and in 2018 that figure increased to 55,388 (City of Toronto, 2019a). For many refugee claimants entering Canada, Toronto was a more desirable destination than many other cities because of the opportunities available in large metropolitan cities (Smith, 2019). The challenge and concern of providing permanent housing for refugees is growing at a steady rate in cities around the world (International Rescue Committee, 2018). The international community has identified that housing is a universal human right that must be protected in law. Toronto, amongst other cities is finding it increasingly difficult to provide affordable, suitable and stable housing to all residents. Refugee claimants in particular, are a vulnerable demographic and experience several of these challenges simultaneously

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