“WELCOME HOME”Refugee housing: a stakeholder analysis

Alastair Woods Business & Design Thinking (6009-001) September 29, 2016

THE CHALLENGE

THE REFUGEE CENTURYMass population displacement has become one of the most pressing

political and social problems of the twenty-first century. Fleeing violence, persecution and ecological disaster, millions of people

arrive at the borders of neighbouring countries, and farther, in hopes of finding safety and stability. Many countries welcome refugees with open arms, while others meet tired and traumatized newcomers with disturbing authoritarianism. Chief among the concerns that drive this

nativism is a perception that refugees will take valuable and finite social resources from people who have lived in the country for

generations. While the product of this perception has sometimes exhibited itself in outbursts of frightening racism, it is still an

important tension that must be considered by policy-makers looking to assist refugees in finding safety and stability in a new country.

Helping refugees is one the biggest humanitarian obligations of our time, therefore it is vital to identify and address the complex, and

sometimes competing, needs and desires of all stakeholders.

After months - and sometimes years - on the move or in large displacement camps, refugees arrive at their new adopted home

in hopes of creating a safer and more fulfilling life. A primary building block in achieving this is housing. Studies have

consistently shown that securing stable and affordable housing for refugees increases their economic mobility, reduces the overall public cost of welcoming and supporting them and

encourages quicker, more seamless integration into society.

Yet this outcome is not easily achieved, though many stakeholders want to help refugees establish themselves in a new home, different and competing needs complicate these efforts. This stakeholder matrix intends to map out different stakeholders and their needs, and explores the relationships

these needs have with each other.

A HOME OF ONE’S OWN

REFUGEES GOVERNMENT

LANDLORDSDEVELOPERS SETTLEMENTSERVICES

SOCIAL HOUSING LOCAL COMMUNITYSTA

KEH

OLD

ERS

Refugees are those who have fled their home country and are seeking permanent safety in a

new one. Refugees may be single individuals or entire families. They may be seeking refuge from war, famine, civil unrest, persecution or climate

change. For the purpose of this project, “refugees” encompasses all kinds of asylum

seekers arriving in Canada, including Government Assisted Refugees (GARs), Privately Assisted

Refugees (PARs) and Refugee Claimants (RCs).

CHALLENGES:

• Many refugees receive social assistance, which is unstable income that makes it difficult to know what rent they can afford over the medium- and long-term.

• Refugees report discrimination by landlords, who can identify them by the “9” marker that begins their Social Insurance Number.

• Refugees are often housed far from urban centres, away from communities and services that are familiar and culturally relevant.

• Maximization of space in urban housing units is unsuitable for many refugee families, who often underreport the size of their families to landlords in hopes of securing a home.

The local community refers to domestic residents of a

particular country, city or community. These can include

domestic & foreign born residents or citizens, including

other classes of immigrant newcomers who reside in the

community.

CHALLENGES:

• Though contemporary Canadian attitudes towards multiculturalism and refugees are generally positive, concerns about integration of newcomers are shared by domestic residents.

• Prioritizing the housing of refugees can stoke public anger at perceived procedural and political unfairness (ie. “What about housing the homeless we already have?”).

• Local residents are also taxpayers, and are concerned about where “their” tax dollars are being put to use and for whom.

Though each level of government may have different priorities and

capabilities vis-a-vis refugee policy, for the purpose of this project, Government includes federal, provincial/territorial,

regional and municipal levels of government.

CHALLENGES:

• Governments require political capital for ambitious projects, such as welcoming and housing refugees.

• Political capital is also crucial for the government to stay in power; public support - or lack of it - could stop initiatives indefinitely.

• Government funds various refugee support programs and services; transparency in spending is vital to secure political capital.

• Some levels of government have more power than others to address housing shortages, turning infrastructure investment into a finger-pointing blame-game.

Social housing agencies include government-funded

housing programs (eg. Toronto Community Housing

Corporation) in addition to some not-for-profit, transitional

and cooperative housing organizations.

CHALLENGES:

• Declining public funding makes the construction of new social housing units almost impossible.

• Without new units, most social housing agencies have difficulty managing capacity, with waiting lists that are months or years long.

• Because housing agencies serve the whole community, any attempt to assist refugees before domestic residents in need could spark public backlash against perceived unfairness.

Settlement services are not-for-profit community services aimed at assisting newcomers, particularly refugees, settle

into their new home country and integrate smoothly into broader society. Settlement agencies assist refugees with language

skills, searching for employment, locating relevant community/social services and sometimes offer transitional housing.

CHALLENGES:

• Most settlement services in Canada are funded through various levels of government. Managing costs and delivering demonstrable results is crucial to secure ongoing and additional funding.

• Most settlement services don’t exclusively assist refugees, and they must manage growing capacity in a country marked by immigration-induced population growth.

• Most settlement services do not assist in locating housing, leaving many newcomers on their own in the search for an affordable and suitable home.

Landlords own private housing units and rent them out to tenants in exchange for a pre-agreed-upon monthly rent amount. This rent may or may not include utilities such as electricity and water. Landlords

can be individuals who own housing units or large property management

firms that own entire buildings.

CHALLENGES:

• Landlords make investments in property to see a financial return, they are unlikely to offer discounted rents without any kind of subsidy or incentive.

• Stable rental income is vital for landlords. Social assistance income is unstable and cannot guarantee timely payment of the appropriate rent.

• All landlords need to manage risk and liability, to do this, they tend to avoid renting to people they believe are unreliable or could potentially damage the property or undermine it’s value.

• Landlords do not want to violate tenant laws and regulations, such as maximum occupancy policies.

Developers are for-profit entities responsible for the construction of

housing units. In an urban environment with little new land

available for purchase, developers generally build large condo towers

or smaller low-rise townhouse units.

CHALLENGES:

• Lack of available urban space puts constraints on developers’ ability to construct new units.

• Maximization of space is crucial for developers, but this tends to create smaller units unsuitable for families.

• Like landlords, developers want to make a profit. Earmarking some units for more affordable housing is unlikely unless they are given an incentive.

STAKEHOLDER MATRIX

Analysis: OverviewThough many feel the humanitarian impulse to welcome and support refugees, a cornerstone for rebuilding their lives in a new country - housing - proves to be a complex challenge for policy-makers, communities, not-for-profits and other stakeholders. Each stakeholder brings a set of needs and desires to the table, some that collaborate, others that compete.

The task of a designer is not to privilege some needs over others, but to balance these needs and produce solutions that are thoughtful, effective and mutually beneficial to most (if not all) stakeholders. Solutions will require empathy, compromise and most importantly, trust between public, private and not-for-profit interests - not to mention the interests of the most important stakeholders of all: refugees themselves.

Analysis: ThemesDespite the unique and different interests of various actors, analysis reveals themes that cut across many, if not all, stakeholders that may help us frame and solve this complex problem:

• FAIRNESS was the most consistent theme throughout research on stakeholder needs. Refugees need to know they are being treated like any other potential renter/tenant; local residents need assurances that domestic housing need is being met; social housing agencies need to meet that domestic need without ignoring refugees; and landlords need to feel that all tenants respect regulations and expectations around renting.

• STABILITY appeared to be important for many stakeholders. Refugees need stability in housing; local residents need stability in their communities; social housing and settlement services need stability in funding; landlords and developers need stability in purchases, rent and proft.

• AFFORDABILITY & VALUE FOR MONEY was also a theme amongst many stakeholders, including transparency and accountability for public funds being spent on refugee projects; reasonable rents for refugees; space maximization and profit for developers; cost and liability management for landlords; and service delivery for settlement services, social housing agencies and government.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cities of Migration. (2016, August 19). Building Better Housing for Refugees Means Better Housing for All | Cities of Migration.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from http://citiesofmigration.ca/good_idea/building-better-housing-for-refugees-means-better-housing-for-all/

D’Addario, S.; Hiebert, D.; Sherrell, K. (2007) On the outside looking in: the precarious housing situations of successful refugee claimants in the GVRD. Refuge. 24(2). pp.64-75.

Hiebert, D.; Francis, J. (2013, December 3) Shaky foundations: Refugees in Vancouver’s housing market. The Canadian Geographer. 58(1). pp.63-78.

Kerur, S. (2016, February 05). Refugees' needs expose Canada's housing crisis | Toronto Star. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/02/05/refugees-needs-expose-canadas-housing-crisis.html

Kissoon, P. (2010, March 10) From Persecution to Destitution: A Snapshot of Asylum Seekers’ Housing and Settlement Experiences in Canada and the United Kingdom. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies. 8(1). pp.4-31.

Peters, A. (2016, September 15). How Europe's Influx Of Refugees Is Inspiring Creative, Affordable Housing For Everyone | FactCoExist. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3063095/how-europes-influx-of-refugees-is-inspiring-creative-affordable-housing-for-everyone

Phillips, D. (2006, August 31) Moving Towards Integration: The Housing of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Britain. Housing Studies. 21(4). pp.539-553.

Wayland, Sarah V. (2010) Addressing the Housing Needs of Immigrants and Refugees in Canada. Canadian Issues / Thèmes Canadiens. Fall 2010. pp.22-27

Other resources:

Toronto Community Housing Corporation: https://www.torontohousing.ca/rent/subsidized-housing/Pages/default.aspx

Sojourn House Toronto: http://www.sojournhouse.org/

City of Toronto Immigrant and Refugee Housing Committee: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=754dd4b4920c0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=bad1ab2cedfb0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD

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