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CCPA
CANADIAN CENTRE FOR POLICY ALTERNATIVES
MANITOBA
Resettling
Refugees’ Social
Housing Stories
By Ray Silvius, Emily Halldorson,
Hani Ataan Al-ubeady
JUNE
2019Resettling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories Acknowledgements
isbn 978-1-77125-454-0 First and foremost, our utmost appreciation goes
to the former refugees who have opened their
JUNE 2019 homes to us and shared their stories with us over
the past three years. We are unable to name them
due to the need to keep their stories anonymous.
This report is available free of charge from the CCPA
We view it as our responsibility to share their stories
website at www.policyalternatives.ca. Printed
with care and integrity for the purposes of social
copies may be ordered through the Manitoba Office
change — improving the resettlement experiences of
for a $10 fee. future arriving refugees.
We thank Welcome Place/Manitoba Interfaith
Help us continue to offer our publications free online. Immigration Council for their support of this
We make most of our publications available free research, in particular the employees and former
on our website. Making a donation or taking out a employees who have served as interpreters for
membership will help us continue to provide people this project: Athanase Mutana, Slone Phan, Nasrah
with access to our ideas and research free of charge. Hassan, Daya Shrestha, Yohannes Yemane, and
You can make a donation or become a supporter Fetheya Abdela. We would also like to acknowledge
on-line at www.policyalternatives.ca. Or you can Asssumpta Mukandutiye, who acted as an
contact the Manitoba office at 204-927-3200 for interpreter for our project, but is employed at a
more information. Suggested donation for this different settlement organization.
publication: $10 or what you can afford. We appreciate the generous financial support of the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada through the Manitoba Research Alliance
grant: Partnering for Change – Community-based
Solutions for Aboriginal and Inner-City Poverty.
Unit 301-583 Ellice Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3B 1Z7
tel 204-927-3200 fa x 204-927-3201
em ail ccpamb@policyalternatives.caIntroduction
This paper is a companion piece to the report, By social housing, we refer to dwellings that
Making Social Housing Friendly for Resettling are subsidized by government bodies and/or other
Refugees, published earlier this year by the Ca- entities, including community-based organiza-
nadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (Silvius, tions, and operated by both government and non-
Halldorson and Ataan Al-ubeady, 2019). The in- government entities. Social housing includes but
tention with the present paper is to build on our is not limited to public housing — those build-
assessment in the previous work. There, we dem- ings and units that are directly administered by
onstrate the significance of housing to the pro- government bodies. We choose the term social
cess of refugee re-settlement and consider the role housing because it is more expansive than pub-
played by transitional housing agencies, housing lic housing and includes a number of buildings
service providers, social housing providers and and dwellings that are important options for re-
property management organizations in assisting settling refugees in Winnipeg.
resettling refugees in obtaining social housing. The present report is part of a long-term
In this report, we use the term “resettling project that began in 2015, in which we part-
refugees” to refer to people who were displaced nered with Welcome Place, the housing arm of
to a country outside of their country of origin, the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council
attained refugee status, and have been resettled (MIIC), which provides housing, paralegal and
to Canada, attaining permanent residency in the settlement supports for newly arrived refugees
process. In our study, this includes government in Winnipeg. We outline the parameters of this
assisted refugees and privately sponsored refu- project in the aforementioned companion piece.
gees. We also use the term “former refugees,” For this project we recruited 21 individuals or
which includes the above and may also include families comprised of resettling refugees who had
refugee claimants whose claims to residency been in Winnipeg for between 3 and 24 months
in Canada were successful. However, refugee with the intention of charting their housing tra-
claimants are not included in our study. Hence, jectories over approximately a three year period,
for practical purposes, resettling refugees and although this length of time varied from partici-
former refugees are synonymous here. pant to participant, depending on their (and, if
Reset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 1necessary, the interpreter’s) availability. We in- (including family that remains overseas). These
terviewed participants a maximum of 5 times commonalities are what make refugee resettle-
depending on their availability and interest in ment a matter for social policy: we as a society
remaining involved in the project. can do better to welcome former refugees into our
Ultimately, we are interested in understand- communities and provide the supports needed
ing the relationships between cost of housing, to help them get their lives in Canada off to the
suitability of housing, and the resettlement pro- best possible start. Obtaining adequate and af-
cess. In many respects, the parameters and con- fordable housing is central to this undertaking.
ditions of resettlement vary from family to family While the full findings of this project remain
and individual to individual. However, for many forthcoming, our present purpose is to sketch
former refugees, resettlement trajectories will out the experience that our participants have
involve important considerations like employ- had with social housing so as to continue to an-
ment, social supports, acculturation, family re- swer the question posed in our 2019 work — how
unification, language acquisition, education and can social housing be made friendly for reset-
employment training, establishing new forms of tling refugees? In order to perform this task, we
community, and providing care for self and family will turn to experiences of resettling refugees.
2 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAExperiences of Resettling Refugees
Beyond some of them having spent their first considerable frustration with his first apartment
weeks in Winnipeg at Welcome Place, which building, stating that the fire alarm went off in
provides a finite amount of transitional housing the complex “25 or 26 times” during their first
for government assisted refugees upon their ar- winter there and that the caretaker did not re-
rival in Winnipeg, we had no guarantee of what spond to his requests for maintenance. He was
sorts of experiences our interviewees would have also frustrated by having to pay rent to three sep-
with the non-private housing market. Some arate management companies at his first home.
would have no experiences whatsoever, living One of these companies lost his rent payments,
only in private market apartments. Below, we and he incurred a penalty as a result.
have included the accounts of nine interview- He sought a social housing unit and was sur-
ees who have desired to have, applied for, or at- prised when he did not get one. He expressed
tained social housing. frustration at this and at being unable to apply
for public housing himself due to a lack of fa-
miliarity with the process.
Neten1 In his second interview, Neten told us that
Originally a government assisted refugee from he believed that:
Bhutan, Neten was displaced to Nepal before
arriving in Winnipeg. He first lived in a two- when you live in Manitoba Housing, it is
bedroom apartment in Winnipeg’s inner city cheaper. From what I understand for [a]
with his father and two teenage nephews (sons newcomer family when you first come to
of a brother for whom he is the primary finan- Canada, it is better to live in Manitoba Housing
cial provider). Now, Neten lives in Winnipeg because you don’t have to worry about rent that
with his wife, infant daughter (who was born in much. You can focus on your studies and go to
Winnipeg), father, and nephews. He expressed school. That is why I think for newcomers, it is
1N
eten’s account is derived from an account that originally appeared in Silvius 2019. All names have been changed to
ensure anonymity of the interviewee.
Reset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 3good. But if you live in private housing from the other children living overseas who she would
beginning, you have to worry about paying rent. like to sponsor to come to Canada. She is origi-
nally from Somalia but she and her family were
living in another country overseas before they
Denis came to Canada as government assisted refugees.
Denis came to Winnipeg in 2013 with his wife Sahra and her family lived at Welcome Place for
and four of his children. After arriving in Cana- one month before moving to a privately-owned
da, they had a baby, and they also have a child in duplex in downtown Winnipeg. Sahra feels that
another African country for whom they have an securing adequate and affordable housing has
open immigration application. Denis is originally been the biggest problem her family has faced
from Congo but he and his family lived in another in Winnipeg. She has had negative experiences
African country before they came to Canada as in the private housing market. She has applied
government assisted refugees. He and his family to many social housing providers and not re-
stayed at Welcome Place for two months before ceived any offers. Some of her friends have sug-
moving to a privately-owned apartment in down- gested her 18 year old daughter should move
town Winnipeg. They applied for Manitoba Hous- out. They told her that she will have a better
ing in 2013, but by the time we first visited them chance of getting a three bedroom unit than a
in 2015, they had not been offered a unit. When four bedroom one.
we visited them in 2016 we learned that they had
been offered a subsidized unit in a housing co-op
($530 monthly) in Winnipeg’s North End, which Samira
they accepted. Their application with Manitoba Samira came to Winnipeg in 2014 with her
Housing had remained open for three years — in younger daughter. She is a single mother and
other words, they spent three years on a waiting originally from Somalia, but she and her younger
list without receiving a unit. In terms of costs and daughter were living in another African coun-
size, the subsidized co-op housing unit was help- try before coming to Canada as government as-
ful, and the family believed they were unlikely sisted refugees. Samira and her daughter stayed
to find a unit of comparable size and cost on the at a hotel for 10 days, and then Welcome Place,
private housing market. The relatively low cost before moving to a unit in a downtown social
of the unit helped to offset some of the financial housing complex that specifically houses new-
difficulties the family faced: Denis had difficulty comer women and assists their tenants in ob-
finding work in Winnipeg, and he and his wife taining rental subsidies through Manitoba Hous-
remained financially responsible for a child who ing. The rent for the unit is $487, which includes
remained in Africa as they awaited family reuni- all utilities, internet access and furniture. The
fication. While he noted the safety of the dwell- building offers a sense of community, positive
ing itself, the lack of safety in the neighbourhood relationships, and supports for single mothers.
was a considerable source of stress and the family Despite the relatively low cost of the apartment,
also reported not having a sense of community after transitioning to Employment and Income
with their neighbours. Assistance her budget was strained and she was
unable to support her older daughter who re-
mained overseas as they awaited family reuni-
Sahra fication. Samira’s daughter arrived in Winnipeg
Sahra came to Winnipeg in 2014 with five of her in 2017. She reports that in the midst of the chal-
children. She is a single mother and has three lenges of resettlement and family reunification,
4 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAhaving a relatively affordable and quality apart- trea, but she and her family were living in an-
ment in a supportive building meant has helped other African country before coming to Canada
her considerably. as privately sponsored refugees. They did not
stay with their sponsor after arriving in Cana-
da. Instead, family members rented an apart-
Ibrahim ment for them in a privately-owned building
Originally from Sudan, Ibrahim had lived in located in downtown Winnipeg, which they
Egypt before coming to Winnipeg as a private- soon found to be inadequate for their needs.
ly sponsored refugee in 2014. He lived with his By the time of our second interview, they had
sponsor for eight months before moving to a pri- been offered a Manitoba Housing unit, but they
vately-owned apartment in downtown Winnipeg, turned it down due to its location: it was too far
wishing to be more independent and closer to from downtown.
downtown. He has family and friends in Sudan In our third interview, Bisrat said that she
to whom he sends money when he can. Ibra- and her family had been on the waiting list for
him has experienced a lot of challenges related public housing for approximately three years.
to lack of employment, financial stresses, and They were first offered a place in the suburbs
ineligibility for EIA when taking high school- but declined because it was too far away: the
level classes. Although he wanted to apply for children had been in school for some time now
subsidized housing, he was told that social hous- and she went to English classes in the area. She
ing providers would not allow him to live with was of the impression that if you decline oppor-
a roommate, whom he refers to as his nephew tunities for units within public housing, your
and extended family. waiting time for each subsequent opportunity is
In his second interview, Ibrahim said: longer. In our second interview, she mentioned
how the waiting time seemed to be longer for
Before my nephew was coming here I was
larger families.
thinking for that [applying to MB housing].
Bisrat told us that “When I turned down the
Because I [was] lonely and I spent a lot of
first option …it took a long time [to be offered
money [on rent] for myself. So I thought if
another unit]. I was calling and calling… Finally,
I applied to Manitoba Housing, I can pay
she [someone working for Winnipeg Housing]
less. After he has come, I just cancelled
called me and said there is one but you have to
my application because if I go to Manitoba
move as soon as possible. Just 2 weeks.”
Housing, I would still be in the same situation.
Fortunately, she and her family were able to
At Manitoba Housing, they cannot give you
find a subletter — another newcomer — for their
two guys in one bedroom.
previous unit, which enabled them to move to
At times, he has had no income at all, and has the new home. By the time of our third inter-
had to live off his meager savings from summer view, Bisrat and her family had moved into a new
employment. Although relatively happy with his three bedroom apartment downtown. After three
first apartment, he was not happy with his sec- years on the waiting list, they were finally offered
ond because he felt the area was unsafe. a unit by Winnipeg Housing. Bisrat credits this
to her persistence in following up on the appli-
cation regularly. Their new place is clean, bright
Bisrat and spacious, and the building has on-site staff
Bisrat came to Winnipeg with her husband and and an outdoor play area for the children. The
four children in 2014. She is originally from Eri- rental rate is $666 per month.
Reset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 5Jamila they did not have a rental history. They had to pay
Jamila came to Winnipeg with her husband and for three months in advance in order to secure
two children in 2015. After arriving in Canada an apartment. Gebre talked about some of the
she gave birth to their third child. She was born challenges of integrating in a new country, and
in Ethiopia but is of Eritrean descent and she and the inadequacy of tenants’ rights. By the time of
her family were living in Eritrea before coming to our second interview, they had experienced sig-
Canada as privately sponsored refugees. When they nificant challenges with their landlord, including
arrived in Canada, they lived with their sponsor a disagreement regarding who was responsible for
for one week and then with other family members paying the utility bills. They had also purchased
for an additional two months, before moving to a home. Gebre still has an ongoing claim with
a privately-owned apartment in Osborne Village. the Residential Tenancies Branch regarding the
Jamila said housing is the most important aspect utility bills from their last apartment, which he
of settlement. She feels more transitional housing feels he was forced to pay unfairly. One of the is-
is needed for newcomers, and that it is very stress- sues he sees with the rental system in Manitoba,
ful and problematic for newcomers to have to deal is that landlords have more rights than tenants,
with lengthy waiting lists for social housing. By mostly through the use of lease agreements. He
the time of our second interview, the family had also discussed how Manitoba Housing is not ef-
moved into a new three bedroom unit, in a Mani- fective because it is not available when newcom-
toba Housing building in St. Vital. The rental rate ers need it most, upon arrival.
is $400 and all utilities are included in the cost of
the rent. Manitoba Housing was responsive to her
requests for modifications of the unit, taking out Elodie
carpeting in many of the rooms and replacing it Elodie came to Winnipeg with her five children in
with linoleum tiles. This has helped with her son’s 2013. She is a single mother. Originally from Con-
asthma. The family also purchased a vehicle. She go, Elodie and her family lived elsewhere in Africa
likes the area because there are services nearby and before coming to Winnipeg as privately sponsored
she is close to the mall and other shops. Despite refugees. She has an adult child who was living in
all this, she still experiences challenges financial- Africa at the time she came to Canada, but approx-
ly, including finding affordable daycare. Unable to imately four years after her arrival, her daughter
find daycare for her youngest, she has delayed her moved to the US with her family. Elodie’s sponsor
re-entry into the labour market. rented and paid for the family’s accommodations
during the first year, after which time they moved
to a privately-owned apartment building in St.
Gebre Boniface. Since coming to Canada, two of Elodie’s
Gebre came to Winnipeg with his wife and three children have moved out of the family home and
children in 2013. He is originally from Eritrea but are living independently in the city. Throughout
he and his family lived in another African coun- the time we have known her, Elodie has experi-
try before coming to Canada as privately spon- enced financial troubles related to increasing hous-
sored refugees. They lived with their sponsor for ing costs, transportation loan payments, and her
one month before moving into a privately-owned adult children moving out. In a discussion about
apartment in downtown Winnipeg. In our first Manitoba Housing, Elodie mentioned to us that
interview, we discussed some of the challenges she was informed that Manitoba Housing does not
Gebre faced securing housing in Winnipeg. The allow single adults to live together, excluding her
family’s first lease application was denied because and her adult children from applying.
6 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAThe Significance of Housing to the
Resettlement Experience: Lessons From
Our Interviewees’ Stories
Former refugees experience complex tradeoffs While it must be remembered that resettling
during the common experience of resettlement. refugees represent a broad spectrum of incomes
During this period, while becoming accustomed and employment type, many arrive in Winnipeg
to a hitherto foreign social and economic sys- with poor employment prospects, precarious
tem in a new city and country, they must tend economic situations, and the need to connect to
to their material and emotional necessities: ac- social supports. Moreover, Manitoba’s shortage
quiring housing, finding a source of income, of social housing, and Canada’s long term disin-
whether through paid employment or social vestment from social housing, phenomena that
supports, learning, or enhancing their capabili- are well documented (Silver, 2011), means that
ties in, a new language, providing care for fam- fewer dwellings are available for all Manitobans
ily members located both here and abroad, and in need, including resettling refugees.
enhancing their employment prospects through
training, education or certification. Moreover,
such needs must be tended to in the context of Transitional Housing, the Need for
displacement, and, potentially, dispossession of Housing Upon Arrival, and the Challenge
home and material assets. of Waiting Times
An individual’s or family’s new home can be Arguably, resettled refugees have the most acute
a further burden amidst resettlement, or it can need for supported housing and housing ser-
provide an oasis of stability that enables them vices during the initial period of resettlement.
to focus on other pressing matters. Social hous- Transitional housing complexes — housing that
ing may be an important piece of this puzzle, is not intended to be a permanent solution but
provided that it meets the needs of resettling instead stabilizes a family’s or individual’s hous-
refugee families. How, then, can social housing ing situation before a longer term option can be
better serve the needs of resettling refugees in secured — are important options for resettling
Winnipeg? The following insights are derived refugees. Government assisted refugees can stay
from the accounts of our research participants at Welcome Place or Accueil Francophone for a
listed above. limited period upon arrival in Winnipeg. How-
Reset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 7ever, dedicated options for resettling refugees Neighbourhood Choice: Safety, Proximity
after this period are limited. Those fortunate to Services and Proximity to Ethnocultural
enough to receive a unit in one of the Immigrant Community
and Refugee Community Organization of Mani- Unsurprisingly, like all Winnipeggers, resettling
toba’s (IRCOM’s) two complexes can stay in a rent refugees exhibit preferences in terms of neigh-
controlled unit and receive comprehensive, on- bourhoods. Their reasons for doing so may be
site, wrap-around supports for a maximum of similar to others — for example, a desire to live
three years (Bucklaschuk 2016 and 2018). Those in safe neighbourhoods and those with ameni-
who do not receive transitional housing or long- ties for families and children — or particular to
er term social housing units are relegated to the resettling refugees — proximity to services that
private housing market, where they all too of- they require during resettlement, or proximity
ten do not have their housing needs met. Simi- to ethnocultural communities as well as associ-
larly, as a number of our research participants ated amenities, such as religious institutions or
demonstrated, waiting times for social housing grocery stores that offer culturally-specific foods.
can be prohibitively long, and during this time
a family may move multiple times to a number
of inadequate dwellings. Doing so negatively af- Achieving a Sense of Community and a
fects a family’s sense of rootedness in Winnipeg Supportive Environment
and can have significant effects on other aspects As demonstrated above, achieving a sense of com-
of resettlement. munity and a supportive environment is crucial
to former refugees’ ability to resettle successfully.
Some social housing providers demonstrate the
Costs, Size, and Adequacy ability to provide supports on site. Moreover,
With the considerable increase in the absolute this sense of community can be obtained by the
cost of rental housing in Manitoba’s private rental ability to live with friends, adult children, and ex-
market over recent decades, paying for dwellings tended family members, all of whom can provide
in the private rental market represent an increased a crucial support network for resettling refugees.
burden on all Manitobans, and particularly low- Unfortunately, there is a perception among some
income Manitobans. Since 2000, average rental resettling refugees that social housing providers
costs in Winnipeg have increased by 60 percent do not prioritize and may even disallow adult
(Brandon 2015). In this context, social housing relatives, friends, and roommates from living
represents a potentially attractive option in terms together. Although Manitoba Housing’s policies
of cost, size and adequacy of the dwelling. do not indicate this (Manitoba Housing 2019),
we were not able to review the policies of other
social housing providers. In the case of some of
the people we interviewed, these fears discour-
aged them from applying for social housing, and
often resulted in them renting an unaffordable or
inadequate unit in the private market.
8 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAConclusions
As we demonstrated at greater length in our 2019 rival moving forward. Social housing can play
report, former refugees experience myriad chal- a significant role when it is ‘friendly’ to former
lenges during resettlement: attaining adequate, refugees. Positive housing experiences can help
dignified and affordable housing in neighbour- former refugees address the challenges implicit
hoods of their choosing, finding meaningful and to resettlement. Negative housing experiences
well-compensating employment, learning English can prolong the feelings of uprootedness and
and/or French, tending to health needs, including uncertainty and force families into impossible
mental health needs derived from trauma, learn- decisions about what to prioritize and what to
ing social and cultural systems, including former do without. Former refugees have experienced
refugees’ responsibilities to uphold treaty rela- displacement and, often, dispossession due to
tions, establishing cultural and religious commu- circumstances not of their choosing; hence,
nities, and supporting family members that remain stabilizing their home life in our community is
abroad, including completing family reunification. a goal we should all wish to achieve. Doing so
The accounts of former refugees included here necessitates reinvigorating social housing sys-
further reaffirm the need for adequate, dignified, tems through the broad support of municipal,
and affordable housing at each stage of the re- provincial, and federal levels of government, as
settlement process, from immediately upon ar- well as the community as a whole.
Reset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 9References
Brandon, J. (2015). The More Things Change: ing: https://www.gov.mb.ca/housing/pubs/ap-
Low-Income Housing in Winnipeg Today. plication/shrp-application.pdf
In Poor Housing (ed. Josh Brandon and Jim Silver, J. (2011). Good Places to Live: Poverty and
Silver). Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood Publishing. public housing in Canada. Winnipeg: Fern-
Bucklaschuk, J. (2016). The IRCOM model: Hous- wood Publishing.
ing and wrap-around supports for newcomers Silvius, R. (2019). Work, Social Reproduction,
in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian Cen- the Transnational Household, and Refugee
tre for Policy Alternatives. Resettlement: A Canadian Case Study. Criti-
Buclaschuk, J. (2019). They can live a life here: cal Sociology, 0896920518820936.
Current and past tenants’ experiences with Silvius, R., E. Halldorson, H. Ataan Al-ubeady
IRCOM’s model of housing and wrap-around (2019). Making social housing friendly for re-
supports. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian Centre settling refugees. Winnipeg, MB: Canadian
for Policy Alternatives. Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Manitoba Housing (2019). Social Housing Rental
Program Application Form. Manitoba Hous-
10 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAReset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 11
12 c anadian centre for polic y alternatives —
M ANITOBAReset tling Refugees’ Social Housing Stories 13
Unit 301-583 Ellice Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3B 1Z7 tel 204-927-3200 fa x 204-927-3201 em ail ccpamb@policyalternatives.ca WEBSITE www.policyalternatives.ca
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