{"id":68025,"date":"2023-05-01T01:02:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T05:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=68025"},"modified":"2023-05-01T01:02:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T05:02:06","slug":"canadas-costly-housing-market-leaves-international-students-open-to-exploitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/canadas-costly-housing-market-leaves-international-students-open-to-exploitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s costly housing market leaves international students open to exploitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Skyrocketing rent prices in Canada\u2019s major cities<\/a>\u00a0are leaving more and more people struggling to find an affordable place to live. National conversations about the housing crisis often overlook a growing segment of the population that is extremely vulnerable to housing discrimination, rent gouging, rights abuses and sexual harassment:\u00a0international students<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canada had more than\u00a0807,000 international students in 2022<\/a>, around 40 per cent of whom come from India. While all these students need housing, many face discrimination in the rental market.\u00a0Tania Das Gupta\u2019s ongoing research<\/a>\u00a0into Punjabi newcomers in Canada has found that some landlords discriminate against international students based on gender and ethnicity.<\/p>\n

Discriminatory ads<\/strong><\/h4>\n

An online search for rentals shows many ads for properties that are available to international students. In addition, many ads are aimed at Indian students with landlords seeking tenants who are vegetarian or from particular regions of India.<\/p>\n

The wording in the ads seems innocuous, but many can be\u00a0discriminatory<\/a>\u00a0and prey on international students. Landlords often demand\u00a0large upfront payments<\/a>. And international students are often sought because their relatively recent arrival in Canada and temporary migration status means they are less likely to complain.<\/p>\n

Housing as a human right<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Even though these ads violate the\u00a0Ontario Human Rights Code<\/a>, they continue to be posted on public websites. The code defines the right to be free from discrimination in housing as \u201cnot only the right to enter into an agreement and occupy a residential dwelling, but also the right to be free from discrimination in all matters relating to the accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Das Gupta\u2019s ongoing research features in-depth interviews with students and service providers. Respondents have shared that many live-in landlords tend to infantilize and over-monitor them. Others, especially female international students, have experienced\u00a0sexual harassment and assault<\/a>\u00a0as well as\u00a0sexual exploitation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A 2018 survey at McGill University found that\u00a038.6 per cent of international students experienced sexual harassment and 23.6 per cent experienced sexual assault<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sub-standard, illegal and overcrowded housing<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Accommodation aimed at international students can often be\u00a0sub-standard, over-crowded and unsafe<\/a>. Many often lack fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors and have pest infestations. Many secondary units in single-family homes, like basement suites, are built without permits and not to code.<\/p>\n

Brampton, Ont., a city where many Indian international students reside, had a\u00a0vacancy rate of 0.8 per cent in 2019<\/a>, which is well below the minimum of three per cent considered acceptable. It is no wonder then that Brampton has an estimated 50,000 illegal units.<\/p>\n

This is dangerous and can lead to tragic outcomes. In January,\u00a0an international student in Cape Breton, N.S. died<\/a>\u00a0in a fire in an overcrowded international student house. In December 2022, Cape Breton University\u00a0advised international students to defer coming to Canada<\/a>\u00a0because of the shortage of suitable accommodation.<\/p>\n

Another common issue with housing for international students is\u00a0overcrowding<\/a>. With rental costs increasingly unaffordable, many students are renting single rooms with others. Some online ads even offer a room with only one bed that is to be shared with another tenant the student does not know. One ad on Kijiji stated: \u201clooking for 1 Indian girl to share one room with another Punjabi girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Screenshot of an ad on the website Kijiji for a shared room in a house in Brampton, Ont. Author provided<\/p><\/div>\n

Stories of\u00a0landlord harassment<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0wrongful evictions<\/a>\u00a0are common across Canada. These incidents combined with the costly rental market mean that homelessness is a common experience for students. A 2018 study found that more than\u00a031 per cent of post-secondary students experience some type of homelessness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the study did not focus on international students in particular, Das Gupta\u2019s ongoing research shows that\u00a0homelessness is common<\/a>\u00a0with stories of some students\u00a0sleeping in their cars<\/a>\u00a0because they cannot afford rent.<\/p>\n

Ending the culture of exploitation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A recent CTV W5 investigation<\/a>\u00a0exposed how international students at Cape Breton University and other Canadian post-secondary institutions are strategically recruited because they pay\u00a0significantly higher tuition fees<\/a>\u00a0than Canadians.<\/p>\n

The extreme nature of the crisis at the university led students to\u00a0speak out and advocate for the rights of international students<\/a>, including raising awareness that complaining about human rights abuses, sexual assaults or other crimes will not hurt their chances of staying in Canada.<\/p>\n

But such advocacy can only go so far. Structural changes by governments and post-secondary institutions are required and municipalities need to better regulate illegal rental units. And importantly,\u00a0international students eager to voice solutions<\/a>\u00a0must be consulted and heeded.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Tania Das Gupta is Professor, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and Yvonne Su is Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies both at York University, Canada<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Skyrocketing rent prices in Canada\u2019s major cities\u00a0are leaving more and more people struggling to find an affordable place to live. National conversations about the housing crisis often overlook a growing segment of the population that is extremely vulnerable to housing discrimination, rent gouging, rights abuses and sexual harassment:\u00a0international students. Canada had more than\u00a0807,000 international students […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[434411],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-68025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-student-housing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCanada\u2019s costly housing market leaves international students open to exploitation - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/canadas-costly-housing-market-leaves-international-students-open-to-exploitation\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Canada\u2019s costly housing market leaves international students open to exploitation - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Skyrocketing rent prices in Canada\u2019s major cities\u00a0are leaving more and more people struggling to find an affordable place to live. 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