Settlement and Rental Housing Experiences Among Recent Immigrants in the Suburbs of Vancouver: Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey

Canadian immigration policy has long acknowledged the importance of immigration as an engine of economic growth. In the face of declining birth rates and an aging population, immigration has become a key strategy for increasing Canada’s population and labour force (Vezina & Houle, 2017; Statistics Canada, 2022a). In 2021, about 8.3 million people, or 23% of the total population, were or had been a landed immigrant or permanent resident.^{Footnote 1} This is the largest proportion since Confederation, topping the previous 1921 record of 22.3%, and the highest among G7 nations. The rising proportion of immigrants is mainly driven by the record number – more than 1.3 million – of new immigrants arriving between 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2022b).

International migration to Canada has become more complex and diverse than in the past when most immigrants came from Britain and continental Europe. Beginning in the mid-1960s, Canadian immigration policy changed to eliminate discrimination based on race or national origin. Since the 1990s, immigration policies have generally been directed at improving economic outcomes, specifically favouring immigrants with more education, labour force skills, capital, and those from selected regions. Humanitarian criteria also shape current immigration policies, with Canada playing a leading role in the resettlement of refugees. The increasing diversity in Canada is illustrated by the rising number of visible minorities^{Footnote 2} (Statistics Canada, 2022b). Migrants are increasingly coming from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. These new waves of immigration have transformed Canadian demographics, as well as the social, cultural, and economic landscapes of Canada’s major urban centres.

Upon arrival, most new immigrants settle in large Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) (Statistics Canada, 2022a). This ‘urban bias’ is stressing the urban infrastructure, including schools, transportation, healthcare services, and has led to a lack of affordable and suitable housing to accommodate the needs of increasingly culturally diverse immigrant populations. As a result, provincial and federal governments have implemented immigration policies, programs, and investments to reverse this trend and balance the geographical distribution of recent immigrants into both small and large cities (Drolet & Teixeira, 2020; Statistics Canada, 2022b). Recent data suggest the proportion of recent immigrants settling in Canada’s three largest CMAs – Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver – is declining, but most new immigrants (53.4%) arriving between 2016 and 2021 still chose to settle in these cities because they offer the best job prospects and other benefits such as cultural support networks (Statistics Canada, 2022b). Canadian census data reveal that Canada’s largest urban centres continue to grow and spread in part as the result of new arrivals to the country (Statistics Canada, 2022a). The inner cities and suburbs of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver are now characterized by immigrant groups settled in ethnic neighbourhoods (Ley & Smith, 1997; Qadeer, 2016; Hiebert, 2017; Keil, 2020).

A shift to neoliberal housing policies since 1993 has led to a national housing crisis (Government of Canada, 2017; Valenzuela Moreno et al., 2018; Zhu et al., 2021; Singh, 2021). Disinvestment in purpose-built rental and social housing has made housing unaffordable and unattainable for many immigrants and has increased demand for affordable housing. Growing social polarization has also affected housing affordability (Ley & Lynch, 2020; Grant et al., 2020), especially in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada’s most expensive housing markets (August & Walks, 2018; Government of Canada, 2017; CMHC, 2018; Cox & Pavletich, 2019). Consequently, immigrant groups are settling in diverse patterns. Some still concentrate spatially to form ethnic enclaves – initially in immigrant reception areas close to downtown and later in the suburbs, or by going directly to the suburbs – while others disseminate across the urban and suburban landscape (Murdie & Skop, 2012; Qadeer, 2016; Fong & Berry, 2017; Zhuang, 2021). In Canada, immigration plays an increasingly important role in the high demand for housing (rental and homeownership), especially in large urban centres and their suburbs (Carter & Vitiello, 2012; Moos et al., 2015; Addie et al., 2020). While some affluent immigrants, such as entrepreneurs and investors, settle in high-priced single-family detached dwellings in the suburbs of Vancouver or Toronto, the landlord’s market often forces low-income recent immigrants and refugees into lower-rent private-sector apartments, many of which are old and poorly maintained. The corresponding transformation of ethnocultural mosaics in cities and suburbs has been marked by increased segregation and poverty levels, and by high levels of residential mobility, including forced relocations (evictions) and suburbanization (Government of Canada, 2017; Jones, 2020). This has presented major challenges for local governments, policymakers, and social service providers as services are typically concentrated in urban cores (Zuberi et al., 2018; Keil, 2020; Addie et al., 2020; Zhuang, 2021).

Despite the numerous housing challenges faced by new immigrants, relatively little is known about their housing experiences and the barriers they encounter in the suburban rental housing market. Moreover, the ethnocultural dimension has generally been overlooked in research on immigrant suburbanization in Canada, for example where and why immigrants move and how this affects the social geography of suburbs. Therefore, this chapter explores the settlement and housing experiences of recent immigrants in Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey – three culturally diverse and fast-growing Vancouver suburbs. The following sections summarize the literature, describe the methods, and present the results, which can be classified into the following main themes: origins and socio-economic characteristics of immigrants; settlement experiences and the importance of social networks; current housing situation and housing costs; mobility, housing search, and barriers encountered; and housing and neighbourhood satisfaction. A final section summarizes the results and identifies areas for further research.

Success in accessing affordable and adequate housing is determined to a considerable extent by the nature of the local housing market – the opportunities that are available within the constraints of household resources. In addition to housing supply, housing needs and preferences are important. The household needs of many immigrants differ from those of native-born Canadians; for example, they may have different living arrangements with larger households and be more likely to double up, sometimes with two or more families living in the same dwelling (Murdie & Skop, 2012; Murdie & Teixeira, 2003). In the case of Vancouver suburbs, location and lower housing costs are important considerations among recent immigrants, as are the social/cultural, economic, health, and education benefits afforded to those living in the suburbs (Statistics Canada, 2022a). The fast-growing suburbs of Vancouver have become important ports of entry for recent immigrants and refugees who are now seeking housing in suburban submarkets that are still expensive, but less so than in the city of Vancouver. As a result, many recent immigrants and refugees are bypassing Vancouver to go directly to older suburbs (e.g., Burnaby) or newly developed suburbs (e.g., Richmond and Surrey).

The diverse housing attitudes, preferences, and requirements of immigrants filter through the complex housing market, both rental and homeownership, in turn affecting the landscapes of the suburban communities they live in. In addition to economic factors affecting affordability of housing, race and ethnicity are key dimensions in the formation/stratification of suburban housing submarkets. Local housing markets involve complex historical, structural, and racial/cultural forces that are difficult to untangle because they are experienced in different ways by different immigrant groups (Teixeira & Li, 2015). A comprehensive analysis of how immigrants integrate into Canadian society must, therefore, include the interactions between suburbanization processes and the everyday housing strategies of new and more established immigrant groups. To date, very few studies have focused on the housing experiences of recent immigrant groups in Canada, including visible minorities in the suburbs.

Housing is a critical indicator of quality of life, health, social interaction, community participation, economic activity, and general well-being; it is also an essential element for a receiving society to be deemed a ‘welcoming society’ (Fig. 11.1). The process of integration is dynamic and geographically uneven and occurs differently at different times and for different groups (Kobayashi et al., 2015). For many immigrant groups, integration takes a long time, and some experience more social exclusion than others. Recent immigrants, especially renters and refugees, face a wide range of challenges during their settlement and housing experiences, including limited financial resources, language barriers, and housing discrimination based on ethnicity or race. This is all exacerbated by the current tight housing market, as well as a labour market that often does not recognise the credentials of immigrants. Many low-income immigrants and refugees live in crowded conditions with others of the same ethnic background (Fiedler et al., 2006; Preston et al., 2009; Hiebert, 2017). These diverse and complex barriers can collectively put immigrants at risk of social dislocation and exclusion, poverty, or even homelessness (Dowling, 1998; Hiebert & Sherrell, 2010; Walks, 2020). While these barriers have long been a concern in Canada’s urban centres, they are increasingly a factor in suburban areas that lack the physical and social resources to serve rapidly growing and diversifying populations (Teixeira, 2014; Lo et al., 2015; Mukhtar et al., 2016; Zuberi et al., 2018).

The importance of neighbourhood and housing in immigrant integration

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Type of housing and neighbourhood affects recent immigrants in terms of social networks and access to employment opportunities, as well as sense of security (Fig. 11.1) (Murdie & Teixeira, 2003; Newbold, 2010; Hiebert, 2017). Access to affordable and adequate housing varies according to class of entry and socio-economic profile, but on the whole immigrants and refugees tend to be more vulnerable than others in the housing market (Fiedler et al., 2006; Ley & Lynch, 2020; Singh, 2021). Immigrant renters and owners experience higher levels of core need (a composite measure of adequacy, suitability, and affordability) than non-immigrants (Carter & Vitiello, 2012; Hiebert, 2017; Singh, 2021) and housing affordability is the greatest barrier faced by new immigrants (Leone & Carroll, 2010; Zhu et al., 2021).

Immigrants often attach significant importance to homeownership, but immigrants and visible minorities face huge challenges in expensive suburban Vancouver housing markets (Cox & Pavletich, 2019; Grigoryeva & Ley, 2019; Singh, 2021). Historically, a significant proportion of immigrants and refugees would undergo a progressive housing pattern over time with improving income levels, better housing, and rising rates of homeownership (Simone & Newbold, 2014; Hiebert, 2009, 2017). But homeownership rates have been declining with successive cohorts of immigrants (Maroto & Aylsworth, 2016; Jones, 2020). Recent trends indicate that refugees and recent immigrants are usually at higher risk of experiencing poverty than the Canadian-born population (Statistics Canada, 2022c; Carter & Vitiello, 2012; Ley & Lynch, 2020). Homelessness and poverty are on the rise in some suburban neighbourhoods associated with recent immigrants (Francis & Hiebert, 2014; Teixeira, 2014; Hiebert, 2017). Research has associated these patterns with low-income households clustered around public transportation (e.g., Jones, 2020). Low household incomes, compounded by supply cost and discriminatory constraints, mean that many immigrants end up in public housing.

Culturally diverse Canadian suburbs represent an excellent social laboratory for the study of immigration. Toronto and Vancouver remain major reception areas for immigrants, whose increasing suburban concentration is changing the social, cultural, religious, and economic landscapes of suburbs through the establishment of enclaves and ethnic economies. In Vancouver, examples of enclaves include Chinese in Richmond and Southeast Asians in Surrey; economic shifts include Asian malls in Burnaby and Richmond, and Indian and Pakistani plazas in Surrey. In Toronto’s suburbs, Chinese, Tamil, Pakistani, and Indian enclaves have emerged in Markham, Brampton, and Mississauga. The increasing socio-cultural diversity over the last three decades has been accompanied by greater religious diversity, evidenced by the many churches, temples, mosques, and other institutions, some of which have been met with strong opposition from local White communities (Qadeer, 2016; Addie et al., 2020).

Overall, the rapid population growth and concentration of immigrants in Canadian suburbs has led to a need for more research to explore: (a) the meaning of housing and home for immigrants and how this affects the remaking of suburban housing sub-markets; (b) the importance of social networks and ethnocultural organizations to help community members adapt to life in the suburbs; and (c) the geographical and social dimensions of housing-affordability stress in the suburbs, and how immigrants overcome housing barriers. The strategies used by immigrants to overcome barriers will have important implications for the social well-being and economic growth of North American cities – and their suburban edges – in the future. Immigrants face constraints that lead to exclusion and poverty, as well as ethnic and racial segregation in urban and suburban markets (Bunting et al., 2004; Lo et al., 2015; Zuberi et al., 2018; Ley & Lynch, 2020; Zhu et al., 2021). These are all factors of the complex urbanization process taking place today in North America and leading to the emergence of suburbs as both separate cities and as satellites (‘edges’) of the larger urban centres (Li, 2009; Addie et al., 2020; Zhuang, 2021).

Data were collected in two stages: in 2011, a questionnaire was administered to recent immigrants living in Richmond and Surrey; and in 2019, the same questionnaire was administered to another group of recent immigrants in Burnaby and Surrey (Fig. 11.2) (Teixeira, 2017; Salinas & Teixeira, 2022). The research completed in 2019 also involved interviews with 60 key informants or stakeholders (Salinas & Teixeira, 2022). The questionnaire included closed- and open-ended questions about settlement and housing experiences and related challenges: (a) demographic information; (b) transition from source country to Canada; (c) settlement experiences and housing history since arrival in Canada; (d) details about their housing searches and access to housing information; e) current housing situation; (f) housing barriers encountered in accessing housing as a renter; g) advice on improving the supply of affordable housing as well as housing services and programmes to new immigrants in search of affordable housing in the suburbs of Vancouver; and (h) final demographic information.

Suburban Municipalities of Vancouver: Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey

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The questionnaire was initially completed by renters and homeowners, but the following analysis reports only on the settlement and housing experiences of 137 renters who participated in the 2011 and 2019 surveys: 62 in 2011 (30 from Richmond and 32 from Surrey) and 75 in 2019 (50 from Burnaby and 25 from Surrey). Eligible participants were recent immigrants who had arrived in Canada within the previous 10 years and were living in the suburbs. Participants were recruited through personal contacts and immigrant-serving agencies. In 2011, almost two-thirds of participants self-identified as Chinese, African, Filipino, Korean, or Southeast Asian, while in 2019 all participants were Mexican immigrants. Responses to open-ended questions were analysed and coded according to common themes and words using NVivo. The relatively small sample size and the fact that participants were recruited using a purposive snowball technique, together with the exploratory nature of this study, means the results do not support generalizations and must be interpreted with caution.

4.1 Socio-economic Characteristics

Participants were recent immigrants: about half were family-sponsored and about one-third were economic class (skilled workers or business class).^{Footnote 3} Fewer than one-quarter had arrived in Canada as refugees or via another country, and most came alone. At the time of the surveys (2011 and 2019) about half were landed immigrants and some had already become Canadian citizens.

Most were born in Asia (China, Hong Kong, Philippines, India), the Middle East (Iraq), and Latin America (Mexico). Most were female (77 out of 137), and the average age was 40. About two-thirds were married or common-law, and about one-third lived in large households (five to six people). More than two-thirds had a university degree or some university/post-secondary education, and the majority reported speaking and reading English fluently; their high levels of education were not commensurate with their earnings. More than two-thirds were working full-time or had their own business; fewer than one-quarter were looking for paid work or going to school to improve language or job skills. Of those who had a job, most had low-paying blue-collar positions: most (84 of 137) had a low annual household income under $50,000, with about one-quarter (38 of 137) struggling with an annual household income under $30,000. Many reported difficulties obtaining suitable employment for a variety of reasons including non-recognition of foreign academic and professional credentials, lack of social and professional networks, and lack of Canadian work experience.

4.2 Settlement Experiences in the Suburbs and the Importance of Co-Ethnic Social Networks

About half of the participants had bypassed the city of Vancouver and came directly to the suburbs of Burnaby, Surrey, or Richmond. This settlement pattern conforms with other recent immigrant groups, including refugees who are changing the historic geography of immigrant settlement by bypassing the city of Vancouver on arrival and going directly to both its older and more newly developed suburbs (see Murdie & Skop, 2012; Hiebert, 2017). Many found their first experiences of Canada’s rental housing market discouraging; some referred to it as culture shock. Some thought it would be easier to find affordable, quality housing, including government housing:

I expected better housing…The apartment [in Richmond] is old, there are not enough rooms, plumbing gets broken once in a while, the carpet is dirty and old, windows are old, curtains too (Chao, Chinese women, in her early 40s, Richmond).

It is unclear to what extent settlement and integration experiences were eased by the presence of well-established co-ethnic social networks or ethnic enclaves or both. ‘Older’ immigrant groups tend to concentrate together (e.g., Chinese in Richmond, Southeast Asians in Surrey). In contrast, more recent immigrant groups (e.g., Latin American, Black African, and Middle Eastern) tend to be more dispersed without institutionally complete communities and therefore may rely more on their own informal ethnic networks to find housing during initial settlement.

About half of all participants knew someone in the area before arriving in the suburbs. Unsurprisingly, about one-third shared temporary accommodation with relatives or friends when they first arrived. This is a common coping strategy when facing a new culture and unfamiliar housing market, and many commented that it is a way to save money to rent their own place. One said:

My [Black African] community in B.C. was very important, finding me housing on arrival. Had it not been for them I would probably end in a shelter (Meja, Kenyan man, in his mid 30s, Surrey).

These well-developed social networks have many advantages for immigrants in their first year of settlement, including emotional, cultural, and economic support, especially during their housing searches. By mobilising strong networks of co-ethnics (relatives and friends), participants developed ‘survival practices’ and ‘resilience’ (‘which includes not only changing one’s own situation but also attempting to rework one’s circumstances, opening up new possibilities’; Katz, 2004, p 242 cited in Triandafyllidou, 2018, p. 4) while facing a wide range of challenges during their settlement and housing experiences on arrival.

Sharing accommodation on arrival with relatives or friends provided many participants with a social, cultural, and financial ‘comfort zone,’ but it also had disadvantages, including overcrowding that could create tension:

When I [Mexican immigrant] first arrived, I lived with my cousin in his basement. It was not that bad because we had a kitchen and two bathrooms, but there were almost ten people, two to three people in each room. We did not have any privacy, not even to talk to our family in Mexico over the phone. The worst thing is that this is the reality of many newcomers to this place where the rent is very expensive (Alejandro, Mexican man, in his 40s, Surrey).

Another important issue related to shared accommodation is the time period during which many of the participants (e.g., Mexicans) in this study arrived (2008–2019). This period was characterized by exponentially escalating housing costs in the rental and real estate markets in Vancouver and its suburbs. Most Mexican and other renters in the suburbs were confronted with a ‘landlord’s market’ characterised by very low vacancy rates and high housing prices, and those with socioeconomic disadvantages had little choice but to share accommodation on arrival.

Although ethnic networks can be valuable resources with regard to housing, the information they provide may be ethnically biased (e.g., encouraging them toward residential areas with concentrations of low-income recent immigrants). Co-ethnics may also have limited knowledge about the complexities of local housing markets and neighbourhoods, for instance, housing types, prices, and vacancy rates; access to community organizations and services to immigrants; housing laws and tenant rights or strategies to resolve housing disputes.

Despite the existence of a few local community organizations (government-sponsored or NGOs) in the three study areas, few participants (17.5%) had accessed them for assistance with information on settlement, including housing. New immigrants often fail to reach out to local organizations because they don’t know they exist or are not aware of their programmes to assist newcomers. Earlier awareness of these community organizations could help facilitate integration:

To come and be supported by friends and family, it is very important. But when you arrive with family members, you do not get to know of settlement and support organizations. I now believe that I have found a job in my professional area sooner if I had known from the beginning about these places (Fernando, Mexican man, in his late 30s, Burnaby).

4.3 Constrained Residential Mobility and the Role of Legal (Formal) and Illegal (Informal) Basement Suites

The most common reasons for moving to Burnaby, Richmond, or Surrey were job opportunities in the study areas and proximity to the city of Vancouver (where jobs were available), followed by accessibility to public transportation/shopping malls/amenities and to live near family members/friends.

After arriving in the suburbs, many participants moved from temporary to permanent rental housing, some more than once. Half of participants had moved between one and three times, possibly due to their newcomer status combined with a lack of affordable rental units, including social housing. Most were renting an apartment (45.3%) or basement suite (33.6%); some (27.7%) were dealing with repair issues, and many were overcrowded (32.1%). Anecdotal evidence suggests that certain ethnic groups, notably Chinese and East Indians, were more willing than native-born Canadians to accept tight living quarters or living with extended members of the family (multigenerational). Ethnic bonds and solidarity among recent and more established immigrants from the same ethnic background can lead to a strong chain of friendship and loyalty linking potential renters to immigrant homeowners/landlords. Thus, rental housing (from room(s) or flats to basement suites) is often exchanged in both formal (legal) and informal (illegal) ways among people who share a similar identity or culture, thus creating an important supply of rental housing in the suburbs that helps both immigrant renters and homeowners alike. As previous studies have emphasized, basement suites are the only way for many recent immigrants to enter the rental housing market. They also provide a way for immigrant homeowners to supplement their mortgage costs (see Mendez & Quastel, 2016).

For those renting a basement or ground floor suite, affordability was a major issue and many had encountered barriers to moving out: a limited supply of social housing and long wait lists made it difficult for this group of renters to access affordable rental housing in the short term. Many also lacked information about how social housing works and how to apply: only 17 participants (12.4%) were on a wait list for social housing. The lack of adequate, suitable, and affordable housing choices led many participants to use coping strategies such as holding more than one job, sharing overcrowded housing with relatives and co-ethnics, or renting a basement apartment of poor quality. The adoption of such strategies may affect immigrants’ quality of life, health, and general well-being (see Fig. 11.1; Teixeira & Li, 2015; Newbold, 2010).

4.4 High Housing Costs: At Risk of Homelessness?

The rental market was characterized by low vacancy rates and high rents. Approximately 33% of participants were paying CA$1000–$1500 per month, and 10.2% were paying more than CA$1500 per month. One participant commented:

I thought it was easy to find affordable housing when you have a job. It turns out that you need at least three members of the family to work in order to afford the cost of living in Richmond (Wei, Chinese women, in her late 40s, Richmond).

Insufficient income, lack of references, or poor credit history were identified as barriers to housing accessibility. One participant commented:

When I arrived, I didn’t know anyone and had enough money to rent a shared apartment, but it was very difficult because I had no references, work, or credit history. Therefore, I had to rent a shared room in a house where we were a total of 16 [persons], eight in the main part and eight in the basement (Miguel, Mexican man, in his 30s, Surrey).

According to the Canada Housing Mortgage Corporation, housing is affordable if it accounts for no more than 30% of total income before taxes. Based on this criterion, the majority of participants were living in unaffordable housing, with half spending 30–50% of their household income on housing; a high proportion (40.9%) were spending more than 50%, putting them at risk of homelessness. Among the three study areas, participants in Burnaby (e.g., Mexicans) struggled the most to access affordable rental housing. The high cost of housing in this mature, well-established inner suburb is likely due to its proximity to the city of Vancouver (and available employment) and public transportation (Grigoryeva & Ley, 2019; Jones, 2020).Despite their low incomes and the numerous barriers they encountered in the suburban rental housing market, almost all participants across different cultures aspired to eventually become homeowners. They cited several benefits, highlighting investment and financial security, and greater privacy for their families and control:

As a Chinese, in our culture is that the place we own is our ‘home.’ Otherwise, we feel not settled before buying our own place (Xu, Chinese women, in her mid 40s, Richmond).

My husband and I are working overtime and sharing the basement with another couple because we want to save for a down payment and be able to buy our apartment in one or two years (Margarita, Mexican women, in her early 40s, Burnaby).

4.5 How to Find a Home: Compromise, Relocation, and the Role of Co-ethnic Sources and the Social Media

The search for housing can be difficult and complex, particularly for recent low-income immigrants who lack established social networks and are unfamiliar with suburban neighbourhoods and housing markets. Most participants had moved from their first permanent residence in Burnaby, Surrey, or Richmond more than once, usually to improve their housing conditions and to live in better, safer neighbourhoods. About half (54%) cited neighbourhood conditions (quality and safety of the area, good school) and accessibility of jobs, amenities, and their ethnic communities as their main reasons for moving to their present residence. About one-third cited housing costs/rents (affordability) or better housing conditions (size and number of rooms, privacy) as their main reasons.

The finding that respondents placed so little emphasis on adequate or suitable housing, and particularly affordability, when choosing their current residence was striking. Housing unaffordability is a major issue in Vancouver’s suburbs, and participants took a practical approach to the trade-off between cost versus quality and amenities. Additionally, unexpected rent increases forced almost one-quarter (23.4%) of participants to seek out even less expensive rental housing – including illegal or unsafe rental units.

The search for rental housing can be stressful and time-consuming, especially in Vancouver’s suburbs; half of our respondents described their most recent housing search as ‘somewhat or very difficult.’ Lack of affordable rental housing and poor access to transit were the most frequently cited difficulties, as well as the lack of adequate/suitable housing, finding housing in a safe and desirable location, and inadequate information about the local rental market. One said:

Finding a place with good transit/accessibility options was not easy…The price of renting is getting somewhat high but trying to reach a balance between cost of renting and access to services, public transportation was a priority…number one issue (Sandeep, East Indian man, in his early 40s, Surrey).

These experiences reflect those of others who settle in the car-oriented suburbs of Canada’s major urban centres, where inadequate and inaccessible transportation and expensive housing markets are problematic (Preston et al., 2009; Hiebert, 2015).

Potential renters and homebuyers can obtain information about housing vacancies from a wide variety of sources. These range from market sources such as newspapers, real estate agents, and housing agencies as well as different forms of social media to more-specialized community-oriented sources such as friends, relatives, and real estate agents from the same ethnic background (Sarre et al., 1989). The amount, quality, and biases of housing information provided by these sources can vary from one source to another and may ultimately determine the efficiency of the search strategy and the final outcome of the relocation process (Teixeira, 2017).

Our respondents used a variety of methods when looking for their current residence; most (40.1%) relied on advice and information from relatives and co-ethnic friends as well as social media (38%), an increasingly popular resource despite reports of online scams. This growing role of social media in the housing search process of recent immigrants and its impact on relocation processes and the spatial structuring of the housing market (rental and homeownership) in the suburbs remains largely unstudied. Very few of our respondents (6.6%) sought or received assistance from government or non-government organizations when looking for housing. Barriers to accessing settlement agencies may include language barriers, lack of trust in Canadian sources of information, and lack of knowledge about available programmes and services. Results show that social networks played an important role in the lives of our participants, particularly with regard to their housing searches and ‘housing-neighbourhood’ choices. Extensive use of relatives and co-ethnic friends when searching for housing can be a factor in maintaining racial and ethnic segregation in the suburbs of Vancouver.

4.6 Suburban Gatekeepers: Covert and Overt Discrimination as Barriers to Housing

Some obstacles to a successful integration in the suburbs involve structural and racial/cultural barriers in the housing market. Previous research has emphasized that racism is an important dimension of Canadian society and a barrier to equal access in the housing market. However, Canada is known for having a less constrained housing market compared with other industrialized countries like the US, UK, or France (Fong & Berry, 2017; Cox & Pavletich, 2019), but this may be changing, especially in the suburbs of major metropolitan areas like Vancouver.

When asked if they had experienced discrimination (defined as actions by landlords in which one is refused an apartment or pays higher rent than others for no valid reason), 38.7% of participants reported experiencing some form of discrimination (‘a moderate amount’, ‘quite a bit’, or ‘very much’). Examples included stereotyping and prejudice by local landlords regarding income, number of children, immigrant status, and general mistrust of cultural, religious, racial, or ethnic background. No participants made an official complaint to local authorities (e.g., BC Residential Tenancy Branch), possibly due to language barriers, lack of money, limited knowledge of their rights as tenants or fear of retaliation (or both).

Even when respondents were willing to sacrifice a high proportion of their income for rent, some landlords may not trust immigrants and their applications, relying instead on their own assessment of whether rent will be paid. Screening out low-income applicants has become more common in recent years, and unsurprisingly, many participants mentioned feeling unwelcome as ‘foreigners.’ One commented:

I have felt discriminated because one immediately realises how Canadians [landlords] treat people differently when they realize we do not speak the language well or that we come from other places, especially Latin America. They usually make comments around how many children we have or how much we earn and whether or not we have papers…There is discrimination in the search for work and/or housing, especially when property owners ask why we came to Canada and about our immigration status. There is a sense that they believe all Mexicans are undocumented outside of our country (Antonietta, Mexican women, in her late 30s, Surrey).

Low vacancy rates and a limited supply of affordable housing allow landlords to function as ‘suburban gatekeepers’ with the power to ‘filter’ tenants by ethnicity, race, cultural and religious background, gender, or income. Some require newcomers to pre-pay rent, often illegally. Other landlords require that potential renters show proof of sufficient funds to support their family for several months. This screening and ‘steering’ behaviour enables landlords to covertly discriminate against renters and can shape the social, cultural, and economic landscape of suburban housing submarkets.

4.7 Coming to Stay: Satisfaction with Current Dwelling

Regarding levels of satisfaction with their present residence and neighbourhood, two-thirds of participants were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their situation; 55.5% rated their housing situation as having ‘improved a lot’ or ‘improved a little’ since they had arrived, while 34.3% indicated it had ‘stayed the same’. Relatively few participants (10.2%) indicated that their housing situation had ‘got worse’ with concerns about safety being the major factor. Despite this promising result, many respondents needed to balance the quality and size of their dwelling against location and neighbourhood safety. When commenting about their home and neighbourhood, many highlighted feelings of safety, security, and acceptance by neighbours, which some equated with feeling ‘at home.’ Despite the barriers they had encountered, almost all participants were satisfied with their lives in Canada, and most were highly committed to their new country: two-thirds indicated that they ‘came to stay’ and had no plans to return to their country of origin.

The new geographies of immigrant settlement in North American suburbs – particularly the significance of ethnic suburban enclaves – have become of more interest to scholars, as the US’s and Canada’s largest urban centres and their increasingly culturally diverse suburbs continue to grow (Singer et al., 2008; Teixeira & Li, 2015; Keil, 2020; Zhuang, 2021). The suburbanization of immigrants in Canada is a relatively recent phenomenon and their settlement and housing experiences in the suburbs are varied and complex. Higher costs of living in large urban areas, particularly housing costs, may explain in part why recent immigrants are bypassing Canada’s major ports of entry (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) and settling directly in suburbs. Immigration continues to play an important role in the increases in housing demand (rental and homeownership) and prices in Canada’s largest cities and their increasingly diverse suburbs (Hiebert, 2009; Moos et al., 2015; Addie et al., 2020; Singh, 2021).

Immigrants are changing the social, cultural, religious, and economic landscapes of suburbs by establishing enclaves and economic niches. For example, some wealthy Chinese immigrants in Richmond and some South Asians in Surrey are building or buying so-called monster homes. Their financial resources sometimes lead to racial tensions with long-established residents, especially when they buy older houses and tear them down to build large houses to accommodate multiple households (Qadeer, 2016). These homeowners are creating domestic spaces that suit their cultural preferences (e.g., multigenerational, or multi-familial living arrangements or both).

In contrast, lower-income immigrant homeowners may use strategies such as renting a portion of their property, for example a basement or secondary suite, to members of their ethnic or religious background to supplement their income and reduce borrowing costs; this also contributes to the changing geography of ethnicity and housing in Canadian cities and suburbs.

With regard to low-income immigrant and refugee renters, many have settled in concentrated pockets, particularly in neighbourhoods that follow the Sky Train line from East Vancouver through the older suburbs of Burnaby and New Westminster toward Surrey (Grigoryeva & Ley, 2019; Jones, 2020). Additionally, many visible minority immigrants have been forced to access public housing due to their low household income, compounded by discriminatory actions by landlords. Overall, the numbers of low-income recent immigrant renters, including refugees, continue to increase, consequently shaping the built environment and the social geography of Canadian suburbs. In the current context of the national housing crisis and the competitive housing market in cities and suburbs, more research is needed to explore the negative effects on recent immigrants and other at-risk groups.

As a result, suburbs have become a mix of wealthy immigrants living in expensive detached homes as well as little pockets of poverty where some refugees, rent-stressed families, and low-income immigrants, including visible minorities, coexist. These recent trends have countered the traditional assumption that recent immigrants and refugees begin their lives in Canada in inner-city neighbourhoods (Murdie & Skop, 2012). At this stage, more research is needed to investigate the geographic and social dimensions of this relatively new phenomenon.

Increasing social polarization in the suburbs has also affected housing affordability and poverty levels, presenting major challenges for local governments. Rapid population growth in the suburbs has increased the need for more infrastructure, transportation, and services of all kinds, and has led to environmental concerns about car-dependent cultures and encroachment on farmlands, wetlands, and wildlife (Statistics Canada, 2022a). The urban growth and development of the Canadian suburbs is now a priority because in the near future home prices may force many new immigrants to settle in the ‘exurbs’ – distant suburbs at the edges of major cities such as Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Our research findings revealed that almost all study participants were relatively new to the suburbs; about half had bypassed the city of Vancouver and came directly to the suburbs upon arrival in Canada. Low household income was another characteristic of these suburban recent immigrants. Findings from this study point not only the weaknesses of the spatial assimilation model (Massey, 1985; Massey & Denton, 1985; Murdie & Skop, 2012), which suggests ‘that the residential mobility of immigrants is directly related to their socio-economic status and degree of acculturation,’ but also to the need for further research.

Given the escalating housing costs in the rental and homeownership markets and low vacancy rates, most participants had difficulties finding housing. About one-third shared temporary accommodation with relatives or friends to create a social, cultural, and financial ‘comfort zone.’ For many this was a short-term solution prior to finding permanent housing. Consistent with previous findings in the suburbs of Vancouver and Toronto that new immigrants feel more comfortable relying on their own informal social networks than on formal sources like government organizations, NGOs, or housing service agencies, few participants in this study had received assistance from local community organizations (Sherrell, 2009; Preston et al., 2009; Teixeira, 2007, 2014; Lo et al., 2015). More research is needed to clarify the cultural and structural forces influencing newcomers’ use or non-use of these services.

Ethno-specific social networks offer new immigrants many advantages in the early stages of settlement, especially the search for housing; less is known about the disadvantages. This finding points to the importance of ethnicity and cultural attributes as significant variables in shaping recent immigrants’ suburbanization and local housing markets. Further study is required to investigate the efficacy and reliability of social networks, including local community organizations, and how they help – or hinder – the search for housing and adaptation into society. Additionally, few studies have explored ethnocultural organizations outside Canada’s major urban centres. This lack of comparative research is remarkable, given the recent phenomenon of immigrants settling directly in the suburbs or in small- and mid-size cities. Therefore, more research is needed to explore the extent to which co-ethnic social networks, including ethnic organizations, shape the cultural and social residential geography of suburbs and smaller cities, as well as the amount, quality, and cultural biases of housing information provided by these sources.

Once in the suburbs, most immigrant renters want to improve their housing and neighbourhood conditions. Participants cited better neighbourhood and housing conditions, location/accessibility to jobs, amenities and their ethnic communities, and affordability as prime reasons for moving to their current location. Most participants indicated that their housing situation had improved since their last move but that they had made some trade-offs and compromises in terms of housing space, quality, privacy, safety, access to amenities, and location to transit and jobs. Some coped with high housing costs or rents by subletting basement suites in their homes or subletting part of their apartment; others live in crowded rental circumstances, and a few were forced to move after being evicted. Overall, the diversity of housing experiences and coping strategies used by recent immigrants means that there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ experience related to rental housing in the suburbs of Vancouver. However, access to affordable housing remains the biggest factor. More longitudinal research is needed to clarify the housing trajectories of immigrants over time, e.g., from renter to homeowner, including their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their neighbourhood conditions and how this affects their integration into the new society.

Low household income was a major challenge for respondents. Half were under enormous financial pressure, spending 30–50% of their monthly household income on housing. Another half were paying more than 50%, putting them at risk of homelessness. Many had experienced hidden homelessness (couch-surfing and living in multi-family households). Such housing challenges are typical in major Canadian cities and their suburbs (Fiedler et al., 2006; Preston et al., 2009; Hiebert, 2017; Singh, 2021). More qualitative research is needed to clarify how unaffordable and unsuitable housing affects social exclusion and integration among new immigrants, as well as how adequate, suitable, and affordable housing can improve quality of life for suburban immigrant households.

Currently, limited supply and long wait lists make it difficult for renters to access affordable, subsidized housing in the short term. Legal and illegal basement suites are a typical market response to the chronic lack of affordable housing, including social housing (Mendez & Quastel, 2016). Homeowners from older and well-established immigrant groups (e.g., the Chinese and Southeast Asian communities) sometimes rent parts of their properties as a financial coping strategy and mortgage helper. This kind of ‘ethnic steering,’ however, can also lead to the concentration of low-income immigrant renters in poor areas as well as to substandard rental housing complexes. More qualitative research is needed into the motivations of immigrant landlords subletting parts of their dwellings to co-ethnics, the financial benefits of this practice, and how basement suites affect the supply of affordable rental housing in the suburbs. Research could also clarify the role of immigrant and non-immigrant landlords as ‘urban gatekeepers’ or ‘agents of change’ in shaping the social and cultural geography of suburban neighbourhoods and the formation of housing submarkets.

Searching for rental housing in the suburbs of Vancouver can be stressful and time-consuming. Half of our participants described their most recent search as ‘somewhat or very difficult.’ Most had relied on advice and information from relatives and co-ethnic friends as well as online searches and social media, though there is evidence that online rental housing scams are common (see Boeing, 2019). This finding points to the importance of ‘ethnic’ sources of information to look for and locate a new rental dwelling: the housing information provided by ethnic sources of information such as relatives and co-ethnic friends has cultural biases that affect search strategies and the potential location of a new residence. From this perspective, ethnicity or race itself seem to be a more complex and important variable than the literature on housing and suburbanization has shown (see Li, 2009; Preston et al., 2009; Fong & Berry, 2017). However, at this stage less is known about the increased use of web-based resources; further study is needed to explore the advantages and limitations of social media as a source of housing information in immigrants’ relocation process and the implications for housing outcomes.

Race and ethnicity matter when accessing housing in diverse and expensive real estate markets. Clearly, immigrants have played a significant role in transforming the social and physical landscape of Canada’s suburbs, including its complex housing markets. However, the ethnocultural dimension has been generally overlooked in research on immigrant suburbanization. Moreover, many of the intricacies of the suburbanization of immigrant groups remain unclear. Overall, more research is needed to clarify the role of race and ethnicity in the suburbs where vulnerable populations, including racialized groups such as refugees and recent immigrants, are more likely to live in the future. More comparative studies are also needed to explore (a) why some groups are more likely to move to the suburbs than others; (b) the main barriers they encounter in the relocation process; and (c) why some groups, once established in the suburbs, are residentially more stable and attain higher levels of homeownership than others. Immigrants are increasingly redefining the social and cultural geography of the suburbs, so it is important to ensure that newcomers are able to access affordable, adequate, and suitable housing in safe neighbourhoods, and ultimately integrate into society – both socially and economically.