Housing Toolkit

All sources are current as of September 12, 2023

Click on the links in green in the Table of Contents below to be taken to that Part. Within that Part, click on the blue headers to access the contents of that section.

Table of Contents

 

Part 1: Introduction

The purpose of this toolkit is to provide resources, information, and templates to assist in the work of finding temporary or permanent housing for newcomer immigrants and refugees in British Columbia. In this toolkit, we have gathered and highlighted best practices and provided practical tools that the sector can use to perform the challenging work of supporting newcomers to find housing in one of the most limited housing markets in Canada.

This housing toolkit is for anyone working with and supporting newcomer immigrants and refugees to find temporary or permanent housing in British Columbia.

The resources listed in this toolkit have been suggested and, in some cases, provided by our Advisory Committee. We would like to thank the following members of our Advisory Committee for providing feedback and insights on the needs of the sector for this toolkit:

Doug Peat, Journey Home Community
Kizito Gaston Ntabaza, ISSofBC
Myrna Kalmakoff, KCR Community Resources
Ryan Drew, S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
Saejin Sage Chang, Kamloops Immigrant Services
Tania Berrios, ISSofBC

Part 2: Current housing market challenges

Across Canada, and in British Columbia in particular, many demographic groups are contending with an extremely challenging housing market. Among these groups, newcomer immigrants and refugees face unique barriers to securing safe and affordable housing.

In 2022, more than 431,000 people became Canadian permanent residents—a record-breaking year. In addition, the Government of Canada announced a plan to welcome 500,000 immigrants per year by 2025[1]. This plan reflects the vital importance of immigration for Canada’s economic growth. In 2022, Canada’s population grew by 1 million people—96% of this growth was due to international migration[2].

However, these newcomers are arriving at a time when demand for housing is very high and growing. This is particularly true in British Columbia, where 72% of immigrants rent upon arrival (compared with 55% in Alberta, for example)[3], joining a rental market that includes Generation Z, millennials, and record numbers of foreign and domestic students.

Yet, newcomer immigrants and refugees often arrive with a lack of rental and credit history, no references or guarantors, and often no immediate employment, making it difficult to secure rental housing. Those that do secure rentals can encounter challenging relationships with landlords due to language barriers, a lack of cultural competency, and unfamiliarity with the challenges that immigrants and refugees may be facing (e.g. mental health challenges related to family separation, war and conflict, and the challenges of adjusting to a new culture).

 

Part 3: Tools for settlement service providers

This section presents several specific tools that settlement services staff can use to help newcomers find housing. These tools are designed to be used internally rather than given directly to clients. The information, tools, and resources have been shared by staff and organizations with many years of experience supporting newcomers in their search for housing. By compiling them here, we hope to give other staff and organizations the opportunity to build from existing best practices and tailor each tool to their unique needs.

 

Part 4: Information, resources and tools for front line workers to provide to clients

This section presents information, tools, and resources that settlement services staff can share directly with newcomers to support their housing search.

 

Part 5: Additional useful resources and publications

Finding, securing and managing housing is challenging for most people. For newcomer clients, these processes can be more complex in ways that are important to understand. When we can understand more of our clients’ contexts, we can more effectively help them secure the housing they need. This section presents a range of additional resources that may be valuable when supporting newcomer clients seeking housing. Many of the tools will primarily be of use to staff, to increase their own understanding and knowledge, while others can be shared directly with clients.

 

Part 6: Current innovative practices 

As of October 2022, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation listed the vacancy rate of B.C.’s primary rental market at less than 2% with the average two-bedroom rental at over $1,700 per month[21]. Rental rates have skyrocketed much higher since, even more so in urban areas. 

Due to the current affordable housing crisis in Canada and B.C., even with the tools and experience they have supporting housing searches, some agencies have seen the need to go beyond traditional rental searches and have piloted new programs and new partnerships to provide more housing options to clients.

In this section, you’ll find summaries of innovative practices that look at:

  • Partnering with developers to use properties awaiting demolition for short-term housing
  • Using online rental platforms to find and match hosts with refugees
  • Pooling, sharing and coordinating resources across agencies who have the same challenges

 

 

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.