The cost of settling in: Immigration and housing in Vancouver

Dan Hiebert, Elvin Wyly, and Pablo Mendez (UBC)

Presentation structure

1. Context of immigration and the housing market (Dan Hiebert)

2. The general story of immigration and housing in Vancouver, as seen in the census (Elvin Wyly)

3. The specific story of newcomers, as seen in LSIC (Pablo Mendez)

1. The context of immigration and housing in Greater Vancouver Immigration

High volume of immigrant reception Large immigrant population Large visible minority population Complex social geography of settlement, which is

characterized by both concentration and dispersion

Equally complex social geography of immigrants with financial difficulties

Canada 18.4%6.3

4.5

11.1

12.4

15.7

16.5

17.6

17.8

17.8

18.4

18.8

18.8

20.9

21.8

22.1

22.3

23.6

37.5

43.7

0 10 20 30 40 50

Non CMA's

Other CMA's

Thunder Bay

Kingston

Oshawa

Winnipeg

Ottawa-Hull*

St. Catharines-Niagara

Edmonton

Montréal

Victoria

London

Calgary

Abbotsford

Kitchener

Windsor

Hamilton

Vancouver

Toronto

%* Now known as Ottawa-Gatineau.Source: Statistics Canada, 2001 Census

Foreign-born as a % of metropolitan population

1. The context of immigration and housing in Greater Vancouver Vancouver’s housing market

Most expensive housing stock in Canada High ratio of market housing Emphasis on building for sale rather than rental Low vacancy rate in the rental market

http://www.remax-oa.com/roafiles/marketreports/forecast2005_pr.pdf

Dwelling Starts by Market Type - Canada

 

Social Housing Market Total

1996 1,750 122,963 124,713

1997 1,101 145,939 147,040

1998 989 136,450 137,439

1999 1,090 148,870 149,968

2000 1,125 150,528 151,653

2001 2,220 160,513 162,733

Source: CMHC 2002, Table 18; 2001, 1997, Table 21.

Vacancy Rates by Geography - Rental Apartments greater than 6 units (centres greater than 10,000)

  Canada Toronto Montreal Vancouver

1996 4.5 1.2 6.3 1.1

1997 4.4 0.8 6.6 1.5

1998 3.9 0.8 5.2 2.7

1999 3.1 0.8 3.3 2.7

2000 2.0 0.6 1.5 1.3

2001 1.6 0.9 0.7 1.0

2002 2.1 2.5 0.7 1.4

2003 2.6 3.8 1.0 2.0

2004 3.0 4.4 1.5 1.3

Source: CMHC 2005, Table 25; 2001,Table 30.

1. The context of immigration and housing in Greater Vancouver Outcomes

Immigrants occupy housing at all points on the affordability and desirability spectrum

Immigration and housing in Vancouver… at the top and bottom ends of the market

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomer/guide/section-05.html

From CIC website…

Source: Richard Maaranen, Alan Walks, and Larry Bourne, University of Toronto,Center for Urban and Community Studies.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0

Percent Multi-Family Households

Per

cent

One

-Fam

ily H

ouse

hold

s, C

oupl

es w

ith

Chi

ldre

n

Immigrated before 1961

1961-1970

1971-1980

1981-1990

1991-1995

1996-2001

Second Generation

All Others

Non-Permanent Residents

Circle sizes denote number of households in each category

Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2001. Special tabulations prepared for the Metropolis Centres of Excellence.

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 55.0 60.0 65.0 70.0 75.0

Percent One-Family Couple Households

Per

cent

Ow

ners

Canadian

BlackSoutheast Asian

French

Latin American

Arab/ West Asian

Filipino

Chinese

Italian

South Asian

Other single or multipleethnic origins

All other Visible Minority

OtherEuropean

Ethnic originBritish Isles

Polish

Note: tabulations only for first-generation immigrants (303,490 of the 750,250 total CMA households)

Circle sizes denote number of households in each category

Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2001. Special tabulations prepared for the Metropolis Centres of Excellence.

Diversity by time: arrival cohorts

Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2001; special tabulations prepared for the Metropolis Centres of Excellence.

Indicators of housing integration: homeownership and average household income.

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Immigratedbefore 1961

Immigrated1961-1970

Immigrated1971-1980

Immigrated1981-1990

Immigrated1991-1995

Immigrated1996-2001

2ndgeneration

All Others Non-permanent

resident

Ra

tio

s

Homeownership rate (asratio to overall CMA rate,38.8 percent)

Average householdincome (as ratio tooverall CMA average,$63,313)

Recent newcomers and Vancouver’s housing market, as seen in LSIC The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC)

Its target population consists of all immigrants and refugees aged 15 and older who arrived in Canada between October 2000 and September 2001

Includes only newcomers who applied from abroad Based on a sample of 12,040 newcomers; interviews

took place six months after landing (first wave) The following results are expressed in terms of

numbers or percentages of individuals, not households

Housing tenure in Vancouver CMA, 2001

14%

6%

74%

6% Owned, with mortgage

Owned, without mortgage

Tenants

Other (includes motels,employer’s home, etc.)

1. Housing tenure (~six months after landing)

N = 23,950 Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada

1. Housing tenure (~six months after landing) (Column %)

Number

Family Skilled Worker

Other Economic

†

Refugee Total

Total 24,000* 6,450 13,250 3,250 1,050 24,000*

Owns current housing (with or without mortgage)

4,850

34

11

37

x

20.2

All other forms of tenure

19,150

66

89

63

x

79.8

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001.

Note: Nearly all of Vancouver CMA newcomers who were admitted as refugees are tenants, with too few exceptions to enable reporting figures in detail. For confidentiality purposes, some results in this table have been rounded by a further +/- 50 observations.

† This is a composite category that includes mostly Business Class immigrants. x Results suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.

2. Crowding

Census definition of crowding

• A household situation in which there is more than one person per room in the house

• Number of rooms here excludes bathrooms, entrance halls, and rooms used exclusively for business purposes

2. CrowdingCrowding indicator in Vancouver CMA, by visible minority group, 2001

(row %)

Total More than one person per room

One person or less per room

Number 22,650 5,500 17,150

Percentage of total 100.0 24.3 75.7

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001.

2. CrowdingCrowding indicator in Vancouver CMA, by visible minority group, 2001

(row %)

Total More than one person per room

One person or less per room

Number 22,650 5,500 17,150

Percentage of total 100.0 24.3 75.7

East Asian * 10,750 20.9 79.1

South Asian 4,050 42.0 58.0

Filipino 2,200 25.0 75.0

All other visible minorities 2,650 24.5 75.5

Non-visible minority (White) 3,000 11.7 88.3

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001.

* Includes Chinese, Japanese, and Korean visible minority groups.

Spent below 30 percent of income on

housing( 20%)

Free lodging( 3%)

Don’t know or refused( 9%)

3. Proportion of income spent on housing (non-homeowners only)

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada

Don’t know or refused( 9%)

Free lodging( 3%)

Spent below 30 percent of income on

housing( 20%)

Spent 30 to 49.9 percent of

income on housing( 17%)

3. Proportion of income spent on housing (non-homeowners only)

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada

Spent 50 percent or more

of income on housing( 51%)

Don’t know or refused( 9%)

Free lodging( 3%)

Spent below 30 percent of income on

housing( 20%)

Spent 30 to 49.9 percent of

income on housing( 17%)

3. Proportion of income spent on housing (non-homeowners only)

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada

4. Housing Stress in relation to income and savings (non-homeowners only)Construction of our housing stress index

Proportion of income

spent on housing

And/Or Savings remaining at

time of interview

No housing stress

0% to 29%

OR

Savings worth at least 12 months of housing costs

Moderate to high housing

stress

30% or more

AND

Savings worth 3 to 12

months of housing costs

Extreme housing stress

50% or more

AND

Savings worth less than 3 months of housing costs

4. Housing stress in relation to income and savings (non-homeowners only, row %)

Total No stress Moderate to high stress

In extreme stress

Number

16,050 9,350

4,000

2,700

Percent of total

100.0 58.3

24.9

16.8

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001.

4. Housing stress in relation to income and savings (non-homeowners only, row %)

Total No stress Moderate to high stress

In extreme stress

Number

16,050 9,350

4,000

2,700

Percent of total

100.0 58.3

24.9

16.8

East Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

7,600 68.4

21.7

9.9

South Asian

2,500 70.0

20.0

10.0

Filipino

1,750 45.7

42.9

11.4

All other vis. min.

2,100 33.3

26.2

40.5

Non-vis.min (White)

2,100 42.9

26.2

31.0

Source: Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada, 2001.

Closing thoughts

Settling in takes a great deal of energy and costs households a lot; as we have seen, the statement on the CIC website is actually an understatement

Different groups make different choices in housing; some avoid crowding, for example, while others accept crowding to enable ownership

LSIC shows us that the speed of housing adjustment is very rapid; the story at 6 months is already highly variegated

The relative lack of social housing, especially at a time when so many newcomers are arriving, is notable