Sheltering refugees: The housing experience of refugees in Metropolitan Vancouver, Canada

The existing literature on housing issues among immigrants, despite some advances in understanding this important dimension of just multiculturalism, is still young and fails to shed light on true variations within the immigrant population. In particular, the conditions of housing among refugees are a less explored area in the research on Canadian housing. This paper examines the specific obstacles that face recent refugees, as compared to other recent immigrants, in their search for housing. The study was carried out in Vancouver, among two main communities of recent refugees: Kurdish and Somali. A combination of survey questionaires and focus group workshops was used to acquire information about the refugees' housing experiences. The practical implications of this study are to aid the adaptation of housing policies and refugees' adaptation of settlement programs, to improve this population group's access to, and quality of, housing.