Ethno-racial and nativity differences in access to affordable housing in Canada

Abstract

Canada is undergoing a housing affordability crisis. Relatively little attention has been paid to ethno-racial variations in access to affordable housing in Canada. Using data from the 2016 Canadian Census, we assessed whether access to affordable housing varied by ethno-race and identified why these differences emerged. Our study showed that MENAs have the greatest difficulty and Whites have the greatest ease accessing affordable housing units. The high unaffordable housing rates of MENAs are largely attributable to their high unemployment rates. East and South Asians also have limited access to affordable housing in part because they reside in large urban areas with expensive housing prices. Foreign-born were generally more likely than Canadian-born co-ethnics to have limited access to affordable housing. Blacks and Southeast Asians deviated from this general pattern. As many governments take steps to address the housing affordability crisis, they should make efforts to curtail the influence of structural barriers that preclude ethno-racial minorities from getting access to affordable housing units. A particularly relevant housing policy for Canada may be to increase the supply of affordable housing in large urban cores where high shares of ethno-racial minorities are located.

Multigenerational Living and Children’s Risk of Living in Unaffordable Housing: Differences by Ethnicity and Parents’ Marital Status

“…Like many other developed countries, Canada is currently grappling with a housing shortage. The resulting housing crisis has disproportionately affected ethnic minority families (Choi and Ramaj 2022). During the period when housing prices have increased, we have seen a rise in the number and share of multigenerational households, particularly in households with a high prevalence of ethnic minorities (Statistics Canada 2022).…”

“…For example, in 2016, one in four children in Canada live unaffordable housing (Campaign 2000(Campaign 2018. Second, ethnic minorities in Canada are significantly more likely than their White peers to reside in unaffordable housing (Choi and Ramaj 2022). Third, partly in response to the high housing cost burden, multigenerational households are one of the most rapidly increasing living arrangements in Canada (Maroto & Severson 2020;Statistics Canada 2015).…”

“…The prevalence of multigenerational households increased by 45% over the past 20 years (Statistics Canada 2019. Partly reflecting the socioeconomic disadvantage of ethnic minorities in Canada, multigenerational households are a more common housing arrangement among ethno-racial minority groups in Canada (Choi and Ramaj 2022;Statistics Canada 2015).…”

“…There is also mounting evidence that ethnic minorities and migrants are more likely than their White peers to reside in unaffordable housing, partly due to their socioeconomic disadvantage and partly due to ethnic discrimination in the housing market (Auspurg et al 2019;Choi and Ramaj 2022;Gusciute et al 2022;Lukes et al 2019). Also well-known is the fact that family structure differs across ethnic groups (Cross, 2018;Pilkauskas et al, 2020).…”

“…Finally, we contribute insights to the small but growing literature on ethnic inequalities in housing attainment. Although there is substantial knowledge about the housing disadvantage of ethnic minorities in the United States, ethnic disparities in housing attainment remain an understudied topic outside of the United States, including in Canada (exceptions Auspurg et al 2019;Choi and Ramaj 2022;Hiebert 2009;Van der Bracht et al 2015).…”