3. THE REFUGEE CENTURY
Mass population displacement has become one of the most pressing
political and social problems of the twenty-first century. Fleeing
violence, persecution and ecological disaster, millions of people
arrive at the borders of neighbouring countries, and farther, in hopes
of finding safety and stability. Many countries welcome refugees with
open arms, while others meet tired and traumatized newcomers with
disturbing authoritarianism. Chief among the concerns that drive this
nativism is a perception that refugees will take valuable and finite
social resources from people who have lived in the country for
generations. While the product of this perception has sometimes
exhibited itself in outbursts of frightening racism, it is still an
important tension that must be considered by policy-makers looking
to assist refugees in finding safety and stability in a new country.
Helping refugees is one the biggest humanitarian obligations of our
time, therefore it is vital to identify and address the complex, and
sometimes competing, needs and desires of all stakeholders.
4. After months - and sometimes years - on the move or in large
displacement camps, refugees arrive at their new adopted home
in hopes of creating a safer and more fulfilling life. A primary
building block in achieving this is housing. Studies have
consistently shown that securing stable and affordable housing
for refugees increases their economic mobility, reduces the
overall public cost of welcoming and supporting them and
encourages quicker, more seamless integration into society.
Yet this outcome is not easily achieved, though many
stakeholders want to help refugees establish themselves in a
new home, different and competing needs complicate these
efforts. This stakeholder matrix intends to map out different
stakeholders and their needs, and explores the relationships
these needs have with each other.
A HOME OF ONE’S OWN
6. Refugees are those who have fled their home
country and are seeking permanent safety in a
new one. Refugees may be single individuals or
entire families. They may be seeking refuge from
war, famine, civil unrest, persecution or climate
change. For the purpose of this project,
“refugees” encompasses all kinds of asylum
seekers arriving in Canada, including Government
Assisted Refugees (GARs), Privately Assisted
Refugees (PARs) and Refugee Claimants (RCs).
CHALLENGES:
• Many refugees receive social assistance, which is unstable
income that makes it difficult to know what rent they can afford
over the medium- and long-term.
• Refugees report discrimination by landlords, who can identify
them by the “9” marker that begins their Social Insurance Number.
• Refugees are often housed far from urban centres, away from
communities and services that are familiar and culturally relevant.
• Maximization of space in urban housing units is unsuitable for
many refugee families, who often underreport the size of their
families to landlords in hopes of securing a home.
7. The local community refers to
domestic residents of a
particular country, city or
community. These can include
domestic & foreign born
residents or citizens, including
other classes of immigrant
newcomers who reside in the
community.
CHALLENGES:
• Though contemporary Canadian attitudes towards
multiculturalism and refugees are generally positive,
concerns about integration of newcomers are shared by
domestic residents.
• Prioritizing the housing of refugees can stoke public
anger at perceived procedural and political unfairness (ie.
“What about housing the homeless we already have?”).
• Local residents are also taxpayers, and are concerned
about where “their” tax dollars are being put to use and
for whom.
8. Though each level of government
may have different priorities and
capabilities vis-a-vis refugee
policy, for the purpose of this
project, Government includes
federal, provincial/territorial,
regional and municipal levels of
government.
CHALLENGES:
• Governments require political capital for ambitious projects,
such as welcoming and housing refugees.
• Political capital is also crucial for the government to stay in
power; public support - or lack of it - could stop initiatives
indefinitely.
• Government funds various refugee support programs and
services; transparency in spending is vital to secure political
capital.
• Some levels of government have more power than others to
address housing shortages, turning infrastructure investment
into a finger-pointing blame-game.
9. Social housing agencies
include government-funded
housing programs (eg. Toronto
Community Housing
Corporation) in addition to
some not-for-profit, transitional
and cooperative housing
organizations.
CHALLENGES:
• Declining public funding makes the construction
of new social housing units almost impossible.
• Without new units, most social housing agencies
have difficulty managing capacity, with waiting
lists that are months or years long.
• Because housing agencies serve the whole
community, any attempt to assist refugees before
domestic residents in need could spark public
backlash against perceived unfairness.
10. Settlement services are not-for-profit
community services aimed at assisting
newcomers, particularly refugees, settle
into their new home country and integrate
smoothly into broader society. Settlement
agencies assist refugees with language
skills, searching for employment, locating
relevant community/social services and
sometimes offer transitional housing.
CHALLENGES:
• Most settlement services in Canada are funded through
various levels of government. Managing costs and delivering
demonstrable results is crucial to secure ongoing and
additional funding.
• Most settlement services don’t exclusively assist refugees,
and they must manage growing capacity in a country marked
by immigration-induced population growth.
• Most settlement services do not assist in locating housing,
leaving many newcomers on their own in the search for an
affordable and suitable home.
11. Landlords own private housing units and
rent them out to tenants in exchange for
a pre-agreed-upon monthly rent amount.
This rent may or may not include utilities
such as electricity and water. Landlords
can be individuals who own housing
units or large property management
firms that own entire buildings.
CHALLENGES:
• Landlords make investments in property to see a financial return, they
are unlikely to offer discounted rents without any kind of subsidy or
incentive.
• Stable rental income is vital for landlords. Social assistance income is
unstable and cannot guarantee timely payment of the appropriate rent.
• All landlords need to manage risk and liability, to do this, they tend to
avoid renting to people they believe are unreliable or could potentially
damage the property or undermine it’s value.
• Landlords do not want to violate tenant laws and regulations, such as
maximum occupancy policies.
12. Developers are for-profit entities
responsible for the construction of
housing units. In an urban
environment with little new land
available for purchase, developers
generally build large condo towers
or smaller low-rise townhouse units.
CHALLENGES:
• Lack of available urban space puts constraints on
developers’ ability to construct new units.
• Maximization of space is crucial for developers, but
this tends to create smaller units unsuitable for
families.
• Like landlords, developers want to make a profit.
Earmarking some units for more affordable housing
is unlikely unless they are given an incentive.
15. Analysis: Overview
Though many feel the humanitarian impulse to welcome and
support refugees, a cornerstone for rebuilding their lives in a
new country - housing - proves to be a complex challenge for
policy-makers, communities, not-for-profits and other
stakeholders. Each stakeholder brings a set of needs and
desires to the table, some that collaborate, others that
compete.
The task of a designer is not to privilege some needs over
others, but to balance these needs and produce solutions
that are thoughtful, effective and mutually beneficial to most
(if not all) stakeholders. Solutions will require empathy,
compromise and most importantly, trust between public,
private and not-for-profit interests - not to mention the
interests of the most important stakeholders of all: refugees
themselves.
16. Analysis: Themes
Despite the unique and different interests of various actors, analysis reveals
themes that cut across many, if not all, stakeholders that may help us frame and
solve this complex problem:
• FAIRNESS was the most consistent theme throughout research on stakeholder
needs. Refugees need to know they are being treated like any other potential
renter/tenant; local residents need assurances that domestic housing need is
being met; social housing agencies need to meet that domestic need without
ignoring refugees; and landlords need to feel that all tenants respect regulations
and expectations around renting.
• STABILITY appeared to be important for many stakeholders. Refugees need
stability in housing; local residents need stability in their communities; social
housing and settlement services need stability in funding; landlords and
developers need stability in purchases, rent and proft.
• AFFORDABILITY & VALUE FOR MONEY was also a theme amongst many
stakeholders, including transparency and accountability for public funds being
spent on refugee projects; reasonable rents for refugees; space maximization
and profit for developers; cost and liability management for landlords; and
service delivery for settlement services, social housing agencies and
government.
17. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cities of Migration. (2016, August 19). Building Better Housing for Refugees Means Better Housing for All | Cities of Migration.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2016,
from http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/building-better-housing-for-refugees-means-better-housing-for-all/
D’Addario, S.; Hiebert, D.; Sherrell, K. (2007) On the outside looking in: the precarious housing situations of successful refugee claimants in the GVRD. Refuge.
24(2). pp.64-75.
Hiebert, D.; Francis, J. (2013, December 3) Shaky foundations: Refugees in Vancouver’s housing market. The Canadian Geographer. 58(1). pp.63-78.
Kerur, S. (2016, February 05). Refugees' needs expose Canada's housing crisis | Toronto Star. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://www.thestar.com/
opinion/commentary/2016/02/05/refugees-needs-expose-canadas-housing-crisis.html
Kissoon, P. (2010, March 10) From Persecution to Destitution: A Snapshot of Asylum Seekers’ Housing and Settlement Experiences in Canada and the United
Kingdom. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies. 8(1). pp.4-31.
Peters, A. (2016, September 15). How Europe's Influx Of Refugees Is Inspiring Creative, Affordable Housing For Everyone | FactCoExist. Retrieved September 27,
2016, from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3063095/how-europes-influx-of-refugees-is-inspiring-creative-affordable-housing-for-everyone
Phillips, D. (2006, August 31) Moving Towards Integration: The Housing of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Britain. Housing Studies. 21(4). pp.539-553.
Wayland, Sarah V. (2010) Addressing the Housing Needs of Immigrants and Refugees in Canada. Canadian Issues / Thèmes Canadiens. Fall 2010. pp.22-27
Other resources:
Toronto Community Housing Corporation: https://www.torontohousing.ca/rent/subsidized-housing/Pages/default.aspx
Sojourn House Toronto: http://www.sojournhouse.org/
City of Toronto Immigrant and Refugee Housing Committee: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?
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