Youth Homelessness Amongst Immigrants

Homeless youth in Canada face several challenges on a daily basis. However, we rarely stop to think about how these circumstances are much harder for newcomers to Canada. The overwhelming feeling of being in a new country, facing cold winters that may be foreign from where they are coming from, facing discrimination or racism as an immigrant, unrecognized foreign employment and educational credentials, or delays in work permits or health related issues are just some of the many unseen struggles that these homeless youth immigrants face. It is hard for us to imagine their lived experiences from our privileged viewpoints, especially when they are not recognized as often.

A growing number of newcomers to Canada are ending up in shelters or are finding themselves homeless, newly released government figures show. The national shelter study, which looked at federal data on shelter users between 2005 and 2016, found an "observable increase" in refugees using shelters. In 2016, there were 2,000 refugees sleeping in shelters, not counting those facilities designated specifically for refugees — an increase from 1,000 just two years earlier when the figures first began to be tracked. In fact, it is found that 14 percent of people who identified as homeless in 2018 were newcomers to Canada [Wright, 2019].

The sad reality is that Canada is not properly equipped to support our growing immigrant population that are struggling to support themselves and their families while also trying to adapt to a new way of living. The national study by Metropolis, an international network of researchers in immigration policy, found most newcomers reported spending more than 50 per cent of income on housing, with 15 per cent spending 75 per cent or more [Keung, 2012]. As evident, this is not a sustainable way of living, especially given the inflated housing market and lack of affordable renting units in Toronto.

Everyone, especially youth who are newcomers to Canada, are in even more need of a safe and adequate shelter. It is essential that all levels of the government take action to create better support systems and housing opportunities for the rising immigrant population. How can our country willingly take in more newcomers while knowing that there are not substantial support systems in place. By whatever means necessary, the government needs to recognize that youth homelessness in our immigrant population is a prominent issue that must not be taken lightly and changes need to be made to the system.

Works Cited

Keung, Nicholas. “New Immigrants Are the 'Hidden Homeless'.” New Immigrants Are the 'Hidden

Homeless' | The Homeless Hub, 2012, https://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/new-immigrants-are-

Wright, Teresa. “Growing Number of Newcomers, Refugees Ending up Homeless in Canada.”

CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 9 Aug. 2019, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/homeless-newcomers-refugees-canada-studies-1.5242426.