Housing challenges for refugee-stream newcomers: research findings and their relevance for the Syrian arrivals

Transcription

1 Housing challenges for refugee-stream newcomers: research findings and their relevance for the Syrian arrivals Damaris Rose, Université INRS Centre Urbanisation Culture Société National Congress of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, April 2016 (theme Housing and Homelessness ) Presentation to workshop 1, "Insights on housing trajectories for newcomers and refugees", 14 April 2016

2 Presentation outline Background on refugee stream admissions to Canada Housing experiences and trajectories of newcomers in the refugee streams - views from research Synopsis of existing research (with Montréal examples) Research gaps Basic facts on Syrian arrivals How can the research base help us in understanding short- and medium-term housing challenges? DR, CHRA,

3 Background: Permanent resident admissions 2014, by category Total permanent resident admissions 260,404 (100%) Economic immigrants 63.4% Governmentassisted (GAR) 2.9% Family reunification 25.6% OVERSEAS STREAMS Privatelysponsored (PSR) 1.8% Blended Visa Office-Referred (hybrid GAR/PSR, new since 2013, n.a. in QC) 0.1% Refugee streams 23,286 (8.9%) IN-CANADA STREAM Successful refugee claimants 3.0% Dependants 1.2% Sources: CIC 2014, Facts & Figures, Permanent residents, pp. 4,6-7 DR, CHRA,

4 Background: Government-funded settlement assistance for refugee streams All overseas-processed and landed-in-canada refugees have access to same programs as nonrefugee immigrants + GAR & PSR: immigration transportation loan, IFHP + GAR: temporary housing on arrival, start-up allowance, 1 yr income support Whereas refugee claimants awaiting decision are ineligible for most government-funded settlement services, except for limited IFHP and help finding housing DR, CHRA,

5 Housing issues for refugee and refugee-claimant newcomers: synthesis of views from research DR, CHRA,

6 Characteristics of research studies about or including refugee newcomers Point-in-time studies of housing experiences, often including retrospective component Mostly single-city case studies, few multi-city/comparative Mainly qualitative studies, small-scale surveys Some larger, representative-sample surveys Mostly under auspices of Metropolis Project ( ): capacitybuilding via academic-community collaboration Longitudinal studies (large samples) tracking permanent resident trajectories since arrival U. of Toronto Refugee Resettlement Project, boat people, followed 10 yrs: ENI (Qc), 1989 cohort followed 10 yrs; LSIC (StatCan-CIC) cohort, followed 4 yrs In-Canada refugee claimants not included DR, CHRA,

7 Finding first housing, with or without supportive services Safe, permanent housing, anchor point for new start Key role of personalized orientation, accompaniment The greatest gift that God could have given to me and my family was to come to Canada, stabilization. The first place that I came to was here with [female settlement organization worker] ( ) We had just arrived at the hotel and the snow was beginning to fall ( ) At this time of year it s hard to get an apartment and we arrived, a large family and ( ) she was the one that did everything with us, she ( ) placed us, all the family, in two 5½ [5 room] apartments] ( ) in the same building Manolo, government assisted refugee, Montréal, 2011 When I arrived, I didn t know Montreal and I had no idea where I d landed. When you look for housing ( ) you don t know anything about anything. You are just desperate to find a place to put yourself. I only saw the problems after I moved in. The mould, the rats ( ) Lara, refugee claimant, Montréal 2011 DR, CHRA,

8 Housing challenges in the early months/years after arrival Lack of credit history/references Housing stress/affordability problems worse for GAR and refugee claimants (financial precariousness) + transportation loan repayment Some experience longer-term problems: Inadequate housing (unsanitary etc.) Unsuitable housing (e.g. for large families) Discriminatory practices Refugee claimant vulnerability temporary/precarious immigration status GAR vulnerability limited education/literacy, large families, high needs (changing profile of GARs since 2002 IRPA) DR, CHRA,

9 Montréal study : housing experiences of clients of newcomer settlement organizations 3-CMA project (+ Vancouver Hiebert), Toronto Preston & Murdie), Metropolis/Homelessness Partnering Secretariat Housing experiences of non-refugee immigrants, refugee claimant, resettled refugees (GAR & PSR but very few PSR among agency clients) Focus groups: key informants of settlement agencies Questionnaire survey to clients: 200 per CMA Focus groups: sub-sample of refugee claimants & GARs Similar findings for all 3 CMAs For publications, see bibliography at end of Powerpoint Page 9

10 Insanitary housing (Montréal survey , n=190) Experienced insanitary housing since arrival Refugee claimants: 37% Goverment assisted refugees: 35% Non-refugee immigrants: 18% GARs faring as badly as RCs Vulnerability to unscrupulous landlords due to precarious immigration status Toleration of poor conditions as short-term tactic to get references for next housing Wider context: deteriorating older rental housing stock

11 Housing difficulties due to family size (Montréal survey, , n=190) Experienced housing difficulties due to family size Refugee claimants: 6.5% Goverment assisted refugees: 31% Non-refugee immigrants: 18% The [French] language, I ll end up learning it, God willing. Our problem is housing. We need a larger apartment, but we re afraid [to give our present landlord notice]. People say that nobody will want to rent to you because you re a large family. Maria (Government Assisted Refugee)

12 Housing difficulties related to discriminatory practices (Montréal survey, , N=194) Source: Rose & Charette 2014, Table 10.2, p

13 Housing trajectories of refugee newcomers the view from longitudinal surveys LSIC findings ( cohort) strongly positive: After 3-4 years, all refugee streams are catching up with economic and family class immigrants in terms of housing outcomes (including home-ownership rates) But, important research gaps: For GARs, LSIC findings are out-of-date due to changing GAR profile since 2002 Only 1 recent study tracking PSRs (Winnipeg) Refugees and claimants pathways into/out of homeless shelters? DR, CHRA, Page 13

14 Relevance of previous research to the Syrian refugee Canadian resettlement program ? Images: Québec grass-roots initiative to promote positive public engagement and DR, CHRA, raise funds for Syrian refugees 14

15 The Syrian refugee resettlement program - some basic facts 26,202 arrivals over 4 mths (Nov Feb. 2016) More than entire 2014 refugee intake, but far from unprecedented numbers GARs: 15,000, selected from UNHCR-referred refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey Canada s pragmatic humanitarianism: GAR admissions selective: families with children, women at risk, LGBTQ PSRs & Blended Visa: 11,000 arrived 000 s more PSRs coming, but long processing delays DR, CHRA,

16 Syrian arrivals by category and profile (IRCC estimates, Jan. 2016) All new Syrian arrivals to Canada GARs (57%) PSRs (34%). Large families migrating together: 53% have 5-8 people on application, some more. Language/literacy: vast majority don t know English or French, many can t read Arabic.Low education levels, but rural/urban contrasts. 93% are small families & solo migrants. 60% know English or French Blended visa (8%) DR, CHRA,

17 Housing the Syrian arrivals in the light of research: short-term challenges Preventing hidden homelessness: division of responsibilities between and among state and civil society actors? GARs large family sizes and other settlement challenges not fully anticipated in some cities Mismatch (variable by city) of affordable housing supply and needs of large families Importance of supporting, helping private sponsors Housing support resources need to follow the refugees and/or vice versa? DR, CHRA,

18 Matching resources to Syrian newcomers needs the challenges vary between cities Total GAR PSR Blended CANADA % 34% 8% Toronto % 41% 7% Vancouver % 4% 2% Ottawa % 14% 12% Calgary % 45% 6% Winnipeg % 4% 4% Montréal (incl. Laval, Longueuil) % 96% - Rest of Québec % 26% - Source: author s calculations from data posted on CIC and MIDI (Québec) web pages: ( ) ; ( ) DR, CHRA,

19 Medium term challenges, priorities Mitigating additional stressors on affordability of decent suitable housing (employment opportunities, transportation loan ) Anticipated social housing needs among GARs, versus supply and waiting lists? Housing implications of likely secondary migration (to larger urban centres) Importance of follow-up research on housing trajectories of GARs and PSRs DR, CHRA,

20 Selected bibliography (with hyperlinks for grey literature) Beiser, Morton "Sponsorship and resettlement success." Journal of International Migration and Integration 4 (2): Carter, Tom, and John Osborne The Resettlement Experiences of Privately Sponsored Refugees. Phase One Report, and Phase Two Report. Winnipeg: University of Winnipeg, Department of Geography. Citizenship and Immigration Canada Evaluation of the Immigration Loan Program. Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Cubie, Dug New Beginnings: Insights of Government-Assisted Refugees in British Columbia into Their Settlement Outcomes. Vancouver: Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia. D Addario, Silvia, Dan Hiebert, and Kathleen M. Sherrell "Restricted Access: The Role of Social Capital in Mitigating Absolute Homelessness among Immigrants and Refugees in the GVRD." Refuge 24 (1): Francis, Jenny, and Daniel Hiebert "Shaky foundations: Refugees in Vancouver's housing market." The Canadian Geographer 58 (1): Haan, Michael The housing experiences of new Canadians: Insights from the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC). Ottawa: Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Hiebert, Daniel "Newcomers in the Canadian housing market: a longitudinal study, " Canadian Geographer 53 (3): Hyndman, Jennifer Research summary on resettled refugee integration in Canada. United Nations High Commissioner for refugees. Klodawsky, Fran, Benham Benhia, Tim Aubry, Marta Young, Marta Nemiroff, and Carl Nicholson "Comparing Foreign-born and Canadian-born Respondents: The Panel Study on Homelessness in Ottawa." Our Diverse Cities 4: Murdie, Robert, and Jennifer Logan Precarious Housing & Hidden Homelessness Among Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Immigrants: Bibliography and Review of Canadian Literature from 2005 to Report Submitted to the Homelessness Partnering Strategy (HPS) of Human Resources and Skills Development, Canada (HRSDC). Toronto: CERIS, Working Paper No. 84. Preston, Valerie, Robert Murdie, Silvia D Addario, Prince Sibanda, Ann Marie Murnaghan, Jennifer Logan, and Mi Hae Ahn Precarious Housing and Hidden Homelessness Among Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Immigrants in the Toronto Metropolitan Area. Toronto: CERIS - The Ontario Metropolis Centre. CERIS Working Paper no. 87. Rose, Damaris, and Alexandra Charette "Housing experiences of users of settlement services for newcomers in Montréal: does immigration status matter?" In Immigrant Integration: Research implications for Public Policy, edited by Kenise Kilbride, Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press. Full report: Sherrell, Kathleen M " Legal Status, Place, or Something Else? The Housing Experiences of Refugees in Winnipeg and Vancouver." Canadian Issues / Thèmes canadiens 2010 (Fall): Ville de Montréal, comité de suivi pour la coordination de l accueil des réfugiés syriens Coordination montréalaise pour l accueil et l intégration des réfugiés syriens Document préparé pour le maire de Montréal. Montréal: Ville de Montréal. Yu, Soojin, Estelle Ouellet, and Angelyn Warmington "Refugee integration in Canada: A survey of empirical evidence and existing services." Refuge 24 (2): DR, CHRA,