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Immigrants and Housing

Tenant and Landlord Guide for Newcomers to BC

The Tenant and Landlord Guide for Newcomers to British Columbia provides newcomers with basic information on their rights and responsibilities as tenants and landlords. TRAC currently offers this guide in English, French, Korean, Persian and Simplified Chinese. Click here to access the Guide.
 

Are the Laws for Tenants and Landlords Different in BC and China? What about India?

BC's tenant-landlord law differs in significant ways from tenant-landlord law in other countries.  It is vital that newcomers understand and adapt to BC's Residential Tenancy Act when arriving here. These fact sheets highlight some of the more important legal differences between the law in BC and the law in some common immigrant countries.
 

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) produces various resources, inclding a video, for newcomers to Canada: Click here to access these resources in English, French, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Punjabi, Tagalog and Spanish. You can also see CMHC's 7 part guide on how to prepare for rental accommodation.
 

Studies about challenges facing new immigrants

Many studies have been written about the challenges facing immigrants in fulfilling their housing needs. 

• "You cannot settle like this": The housing situation of African refugees in Metro Vancouver.  Source: Written for Metropolis British Columbia by Jenny Francis
   
• "Diversity Profile of BC".  Source: Law Foundation of BC
   
• “A Study of Poverty and Working Poverty among Recent Immigrants to Canada”. Source: 2007 Report Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
   
• "Faces of Refugees". Source: 2007 Report by Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia
   
• “The Profile of Absolute and Relative Homelessness”. Source: 2005 Report by MOSAIC
   
• “A Survey on the Extent of Substandard Housing Problems Faced by Immigrants and Refugees in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia”. Source: 2002 Report by MOSAIC
   
• “Cultural Divide: A neighbourhood study of immigrant rental housing in Vancouver”. Source: 2008 Report by Pivot Legal and MOSAIC
   
• "2006 Census: Immigration, citizenship, language, mobility and migration". Source: Statistics Canada.
   
• "Settling In: Newcomers in the Canadian Housing Market 2001-2005". Source: CMHC

For more information see the following links:

• Affiliation of Multicultural Societies and Service Agencies of BC (AMSSA)
• Government of Canada
• Immigrant Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) Consortium
• Immigrant Services Society of BC
• Justice Education Society - Court Information for Immigrants
  
• Laurier Institution
  
• Metropolis: Enhancing Policy Through Research
• MOSAIC
• Options Services to Communities Society
• Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS)
• Province of British Columbia
• S.U.C.C.E.S.S.
  
• Urban Futures