Housing New Canadians
Research Working Group - Toronto
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 HOUSING EXPERIENCES OF NEW CANADIANS:
COMPARATIVE CASE STUDIES OF IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES IN TORONTO
Case Study Communities: Jamaicans, Poles, Somalis



The Focus Groups

Nine focus group sessions were conducted during a twelve month period in 1994-1995 (four Jamaican, four Somali and one Polish). An average of eight participants attended each session. A series of open ended questions were asked about the housing preferences of each group, the barriers encountered in the housing search process, the search strategies used to overcome the barriers encountered, and the outcome (the quality of housing obtained).

The purpose of the focus groups was to explore issues that the researchers were not familiar with and to identify in a preliminary way the types of experiences of each group in Toronto's housing market. This information was useful in the development of questionnaire survey. The research team wanted to involve the communities in the process of designing appropriate procedures of data collection that would be useful to the groups themselves and to ensure that we would not avoid key issues of relevance to the communities. It was soon discovered, however, that the focus groups were not only a means toward the next step but also an end in themselves. Therefore, it was decided to extend the number of focus group sessions and to report in a formal way on the information generated by the focus groups. In contrast to the research team's earlier intentions, community members on the Housing Experiences of New Canadians steering committee became active participants in the organization of the focus groups and ultimately participated in the groups themselves. In this way, committee members acted as bridges between the researchers and the communities and sometimes participated in more than one focus group. By being comfortable with the researchers, they facilitated the comfort level of other group members.

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Focus Group Findings:
Barriers Leading to Differential Access to Housing

Households in Toronto do not have equal access to all available housing vacancies. By 'equal' we mean that households in similar circumstances with similar resources have similar access to the available stock of housing vacancies. We find that households have differential access to vacancies, in private as well as public sector housing. These differences are not, for the most part, related to what most would consider objective criteria for assessing whether someone would be a good tenant. Some of the barriers are also illegal, that is, in violation of landlord/tenant and human rights legislation in Ontario.

During our focus group sessions eleven distinct types of barriers were identified by the participants. These barriers consist of real as well as perceived, and in some cases socially constructed, characteristics of a person (or their household). Not all individuals or households seeking a place to live face these barriers. Some must cope with a few of them, some with many, and some individuals do not face any. Some of these barriers are imposed (i.e., implemented) by various actors (gatekeepers) throughout the housing system, some are systemic to the operation of the housing system, while others are specific characteristics of households themselves. They manifest themselves in different ways depending on the household and the context. We discuss each below.

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Level of Income

"Landlords think you cannot afford, you don't make enough money ... they ask for a co-signer..."[J4]

In all market societies level of income is perhaps the major obstacle to finding adequate housing for any household. This problem is compounded by the perceived level of income required to avoid the risk of non-payment Ð as perceived by landlords and their agents. Many in the Toronto area use a rent-to-income ratio as a 'rule of thumb' (e.g., 30%). If the rent is greater than the selected measure, the tenant might be refused. Some landlords are particularly hesitant to rent to new immigrants who pose a number of unknowns (e.g., the assurance of a stable income). This leads to discriminatory practices based on stereotypes and hearsay evidence of bad tenants from other landlords. Potential renters are routinely asked for proof of their level of income and to provide security by having a co-signer as a guarantors. Immigrants and refugees, particularly recent arrivals to Canada, have difficulty providing such evidence.

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Colour of Skin

"The first thing the landlord sees is the colour of your skin."[S3]

"We call them [landlords] ... they have apartments available, but when we arrive there it's a different story ... being Black you are discriminated..."[J1].

"Why and how certain areas in Metro [public] housing turned all Black? ... In some other areas specially in white senior areas they remain all white, those buildings are nicer... but they put our [Black] seniors in high crime areas with a lot of violence..."[J1].

"I had an experience when I first came to Canada ... when I was speaking with her [a landlady] on the 'phone she didn't recognize my accent ... she didn't think I was a black person talking to her.... When I went down to see the place, as soon as she saw my [skin] colour, the lady said, 'I am sorry to inform you, the apartment was rented just 15 minutes ago.' I didn't think it was because of my colour because I have not experienced racism coming from Somalia ... I mean we have our own problems ... but we don't discriminate against colour so I didn't make the connections ... so when I went home and my friends who have been here for awhile asked me what happened ... and they [my friends] said 'no let's call her.' I called again ... 'Oh yes the apartment is available,' I was really shocked ... this was my first experience ... it was hard, I did not make the connections at that time."[S3]

Colour of skin, as signifier for 'race,' is a central barrier for visible minority groups. Colour of skin is not always easily differentiated from other sources of discrimination. Colour of skin can be isolated as a distinct sign of difference in the case of English-speaking newcomers, and groups who are familiar with Canadian (or British) culture, such as Jamaicans. It is not so easily disentangled from features of ethnicity and culture in the case of non-English speaking populations, such as the Somalis.

Jamaican respondents complained of discriminatory practices in the allocation of public housing units resulting in fewer choices for Black families and elderly singles. They perceived that the choice of locations for the Black population was purposely restricted by public housing officials. Throughout the focus group discussions, we were repeatedly told that Blacks were channelled into the least desirable housing units in the least desirable locations. In addition, they felt they have greater difficulty in obtaining a transfer to another location. Whether or not these perceptions about public housing authority practices are correct (something the housing authority continually denies), there is indeed a concentration of the Black population in some of the 125 public housing communities in Metro Toronto. The result is segregated public housing districts, increased stigmatization for some neighbourhoods, and often tense neighbourly relations and resident/management relations.

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Source of Income

"People on social assistance is a factor to turn people down."[J2]

"If you are on social assistance [it] is a big problem ... the first thing they say to you is we don't have nothing available ... [If you] call them back two minutes after that and say, 'do you have any place available, I am working making this amount of money,' ... you would be surprised to hear how fast they tell you 'yes' we have something available."[S3]

"Landlords discriminate in different ways against Somalis on welfare. They do not want to fill out forms for Somalis on welfare. Quite often problems erupt between landlords and tenants."[S1]

The source of income matters to some landlords, specifically when that source is social assistance (welfare). Being in receipt of social assistance is a major barrier to housing access. Landlords suspect that renters will default on their rent and that they will generally lower the social status of their building. There is a perception of a negative 'moral' valuation of the person and household. This particularly affects families on social assistance, the largest category of recipients. All three groups noted that people on social assistance have problems finding suitable accommodation, especially in the private rental sector.

Because it has been illegal since 1981 in Ontario to refuse to rent on the basis of the applicant being in receipt of social assistance (Ontario Human Rights Code), other measures or explanations are used. The most common is the use of minimum income criteria (a rent-to-income ratio). All recipients of social assistance in Ontario fail to meet the 30% of income 'rule of thumb' because the benefits do not adequately cover the rent. Most landlords require first and last months rent which low income people have difficult paying (i.e., pay the landlord two months rent before moving in).

Polish participants told us that households on social assistance face major problems finding housing. The staff of a Polish community agency also reported that they had great difficulty assisting these families in finding housing. A number of landlords perceive families on welfare as 'bums' and refused to make housing available to them. Staff reported this in matter-of-fact way since it was such a common experience. Acknowledging this severe restriction, the agency has developed good connections with the management of two particular buildings in which welfare clients are accepted. In this case, the agency acts (informally) as the guarantor.

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Ethnicity, Culture and Religion

"Somalis move to Dixie Rd., come to this area because of language problems and to be among other Somalis, they feel more comfortable, to avoid discrimination."[S2]

"a lot of [Jamaicans] want to move to rural areas but for shopping they like to stay close to some place they can get Caribbean cuisine...some place where you can get food to cook...close to your culture."

"in our culture if a family member visits us, he will stay with us [in the same apartment], it is part of our culture, he will not go to an hotel"[S2]

Ethnicity, culture and religion were raised in various ways making it difficult to disentangle the extent to which these characteristics act as barriers to housing. We can hypothesize that the larger the gap between the ethnicity, culture and religion of the newcomer group and the dominant group, the greater the potential for aspects of these to become barriers to housing access. The focus group discussions were permeated with references to how their 'differences' from the dominant ethno-cultural-religious traditions of Canada affected their decisions about housing.

It is also difficult to disentangle ethnicity and culture as a negative response (the perception of 'otherness' leading to negative stereotypes and discrimination affecting housing access) and positive choice by members of a minority group who decide to live in a ethnically and culturally familiar environment (people, stores, food). The two aspects of ethnicity combine when respondents talk of a level of comfort at being within one's community.

Many newcomers lived in rural areas prior to coming to Canada so trying to settle in and begin a new life in Toronto, the largest and most multicultural metropolitan area in the country, can be a cultural shock. Smaller cities and rural communities, however, do not have the same support systems Toronto has for newcomers and low income households.

The Somalis were selected as a case study group in part because of they are not from a Judaeo-Christian religious context, though they now find themselves in one. They have many stories to tell, both positive and negative, about the impact of these differences. Religious distinctiveness and active religious affiliation entails practices affecting daily lifestyle and the choice of housing location (e.g., close to particular food stores, places of worship).

Misunderstandings also occur regularly around visiting rights. The Somali culture places a strong value of hospitality, and it is an honour to have guests stay in their home. Some landlords are concerned that families may be doubling up on a permanent basis leading to conflict, with landlords seeking to impose a non-visiting rule.

For all three groups the common features of their ethnicity, culture and religion helped create a common bond leading to the establishment of formal and informal personal and community networks which they could and often did call upon while seeking housing. The experiences we heard about often related to location. Certain neighbourhoods were more appealing due to supportive activities and services while other neighbourhoods were less appealing due to their lack of ethnic mix and cultural and religious supports.

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Knowledge of the Housing System

Some Somalis speak the language [English] but do not know how the housing system works. Because of this, they are discriminated and abused by white landlords. [S1]

"A lot of people do not know their rights as tenants..." [S2]

"I knew that I had the right to parking, but since I did not use it the landlord rented it.... When I called the landlord she said I did not have the right to have the parking.... Since my mother was on welfare she threatened us, and asked us to leave the apartment" [S2]

"we came from a very homogeneous society, here neighbourhoods are divided..." [S1]

The lack of knowledge of how the housing system operates is a major barrier for anyone. Many newcomers have limited personal or institutional assistance when they search for a place to live. If level and source of income, colour of skin, and ethno-cultural-religious factors are also present as described above, the search becomes especially difficult, time consuming and frustrating. One Somali (a former commercial pilot with a small family and excellent English) reported that upon arriving in Toronto he simply searched in any neighbourhood where he learned of vacancies. Only when friends told him which neighbourhoods to limit his search to did he begin to have some success at finding landlords who would rent to him. Even Canadian born tenants require a great deal of experience acquired through several moves and searches before they can efficiently find the most appropriate apartment within their budget. Unlike newcomers, however, they have a general sense of what their rights and responsibilities are as a tenant and whether they are being taken advantage of.

There were a number of areas identified as categories of knowledge many newcomers lack. These include: (a) knowledge of the city in general and of individual neighbourhoods in particular; (b) knowledge about the types of housing available (the range of options, the range of choice within constraints); (c) knowledge of the best way to conduct a housing search and negotiate with a landlord; (d) knowledge of rent levels and related transaction costs; and (e) knowledge of housing rights and responsibilities.

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Gender

"Women living alone, single mothers, face more problems, because of language problems, they are exploited by landlords." [S2]

"The young Black male is a target in every aspect of his livelihood, especially in housing.... As soon as landlords know there is a Black male, that implies that maybe drugs, maybe violence, parties.... A black woman is probably better off than Black man looking for/getting housing." [J1]

We did not learn a great deal about gender-based barriers. In part, gender overlaps with household type, such as single mother households. Landlords often question whether single parent households will be able to pay the rent. Single mothers sometimes find themselves in a situation of dependency either directly with their landlord or with a guarantor (a co-signer on the lease). Some women hinted at sexual exploitation.

It is not only women who encounter barriers, however. Single males were particularly singled out in the Jamaican and in the Polish groups. The Jamaican participants stressed the stigma attached to young black males. The negative stereotypes make it much more difficult for them to find housing. For the Polish group, households comprised of several single males were negatively perceived of from within the Polish community. Landlords were reluctant to rent to them.

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Language and Accent

"because of language barriers, there is no communication between the landlord and the tenants." [S2]

"First I look for areas where our community lives because we have the language problem." [S2]

Language as an initial barrier for non-English speaking groups. The language barrier includes various degrees of fluency, from not speaking English at all, to not being able to understand well, to concern about not being understood. Finding housing and negotiating the tenancy arrangements requires mastery of the language. Non-fluency is associated with lack of orientation and dependency upon others. Language can also be a barrier in more subtle ways. For example, accent was identified as a signifier of 'difference,' implying difficulty to be understood, to be listened to, to be taken seriously, and sometimes leading to discrimination (as yet another signifier of difference Ð a negative stereotype).

Language was identified as a major barrier for Polish immigrants. This means that they must first look for housing in the existing area of Polish settlement in Toronto, little Poland in the west end of the City. This is a place where Polish immigrants feel at 'home' in Canada, living among those who speak the same language and share the same ethnic and cultural traditions. A location in the existing Polish community is particularly important for immigrants from the rural areas of Poland. Not only do these people not speak English but they are not familiar or comfortable with the rhythm and flow of urban life. In Poland they were accustomed to a close network of friends and relatives among whom a person's word was more important than legal documents. As a result, they are not familiar with apartment leases and the need to be careful when signing a lease in order not to be locked into a rental agreement with highly restrictive terms or for an unreasonable length of time. In general, the participants agreed that, aside from those on social assistance, finding a 'decent' apartment within the Polish community was not difficult, especially given the existence of a well-established network of Polish community services.

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Household Type and Size

"I took my client to [a housing help centre] in Scarborough ... we got a two bedroom house for a family of ten people ... Their income is limited, they have to survive ... most big families are in a shelter waiting until they get MTHA [public] housing." [S2]

Several household types encountered specific barriers due to household composition. These include families with a 'large' number of children, single parents and single adults, especially single males. Families with many children are not welcomed by landlords, and indeed there are relatively few apartment units in Toronto that are large enough to accommodate families with several children. This was a particular problem for Somali families who tend to have more children than the average in urban Canada. Single mothers face a different set of problems and tend to be stereotyped based on perception of source and level of income and on a negative moral judgement. Finally, as noted in the section dealing with 'gender', single males are perceived as not dependable in paying their rent and maintaining the dwelling in good condition.

In addition, there is the phenomenon of diverse forms of temporary household configurations among some immigrant groups. Some Polish men, for example, arrive in Canada before the rest of their families and share a small apartment with several other males in the same situation. There is a flow of individuals in and out with the total number changing. The original tenant known to the landlord may not even be living in the apartment any longer. Because they do not have much money and are trying to save money for their families they do not rent larger places (assuming they find a landlord willing to rent to such a group). All immigrant groups and particularly refugees with lower incomes are likely to live in some form of temporary household configurations during the initial settlement period. This can also be a response to other barriers. With few good choices open to them they make do with a group of others in the same situation. Finding landlords willing to rent to these non-typical households can be a problem and can lead to disputes once a landlord learns who is actually living in an apartment.

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Social Housing Waiting Lists

Metropolitan Toronto has about 500,000 households who own their housing and about 500,000 who rent. There are only 30,000 public housing units in Metro (6% of the rental stock) and no new units have been built for about twenty years. The waiting list is usually above 10,000 households. Until recently access was based strictly on a needs test, with points assigned. Thus a household with great need but just not quite as serious as others can sit on the list for many years. Recently a modified chronological waiting list was introduced, allocating some vacancies on the basis of need (the highest points) and others based on position on the list (length of time waiting). Any system has its problems. The chronological access means that newcomers can wait for many years. They go to the bottom of the list. The lack of sufficient rent-geared-to-income housing and the long waiting lists came up repeatedly in the focus groups.

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Knowledge of Institutions and Culture

This barrier refers to differences between institutional arrangements (how one goes about doing things, like obtain housing, find a job, and so on) in the home country and those in Canada, specifically in Metro Toronto. These differences vary with each newcomer group and within groups (for example, the difference between lower educated rural households and educated middle class urban households from a particular country). Toronto has newcomers from over one hundred different ethno-linguistic-national origins.

Knowledge of Canadian institutions and cultural practices covers a broad spectrum from knowing about available resources and services to familiarity with procedures relating to interactions with administrators, filling out forms; arranging financial matters and how to know and protect ones rights and avoid exploitation. The lack of general institutional knowledge affects the housing search directly.

Lack of knowledge about "housing rights" and landlord/tenant relations in Canada came up many times in the focus groups. Participants noted that they had no local norm against which to gage whether the rent was high; whether the information requests and application procedures were routine; whether certain housing conditions or treatment by the landlord were standard; and mainly, whether they had a right to challenge any of these conditions. Often these discussions concluded with: "if we had known then what we know now." Knowledge of the institutions and culture improves with time and experience, although language difficulties and other factors can slow the learning process.

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Experience with the Dominant Culture

"it does cause a lot of problems for refugees coming here ... you don't have that extended family that was there [back in Somalia] ... which means you have to be coping with things on your own, which makes it a lot harder because you have to readjust ... figuring out how to live in this society because the culture and rules and everything that apply to your society doesn't apply here and being here in a different country is as like they say Ð 'do in Rome as the Romans do' and there is not much of a choice ... raising children for instance is a big, big problem because the way one come in and discipline their children is not necessarily right for another community ... what is acceptable behaviour for one particular ethnic group is not for another ... and I think that landlords when looking at renting, look at things like that." [S3]

Research generally suggests that the greater the difference between two cultures, the more difficult it is for people to interact and adjust. Members of the 'dominant' or majority group in any city or neighbourhood can vary in their attitudes and experience with members of newcomer groups. Members of newcomer groups, therefore, do not necessarily experience consistent and identical attitudes from others in the dominant group with whom they interact. In addition members of newcomer groups can vary in the way they perceive and react to these differences from members of the dominant group. This adds a further institutional/structural unknown to the dynamics of the settlement process and the search for housing. Experience counts. Newcomers lack this experience. It takes time to learn. Existing community networks and services can help. With so many immigrants and refugees from so many different places arriving in Toronto many do not have community networks and appropriate services waiting for them. In the focus groups we heard of various ways in which the 'clash of cultures' and the lack of understanding and tolerance among some in Toronto plays itself out in the lives of the three newcomer groups. These include various stereotypes and forms of prejudice and ethnocentrism relating to the definition of 'acceptable behaviour.' These combine to form a situational barrier to successful settlement. That is, what is the situation a particular newcomer to Toronto finds him/herself in with respect to the nature and intensity of the dominant group's attitudes towards his/her ethno-cultural background. The process of renting an apartment involves one applicant (person or household) and one landlord meeting at one point in time. Each brings their 'cultural baggage' to the 'event.' For some newcomers the results are not positive or favourable in terms of gaining fair and equitable access to a particular vacancy.

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Impacts of the Barriers and Strategies Used in Response

In our focus groups we learned less about the impact of the barriers and the strategies used in response to the barriers than we did about the barriers. Our discussion of the results and strategies will, therefore, be brief.

We can conclude that all three groups face fewer choices in terms of housing tenure, type, price and location as a result of the barriers. Most new immigrants and refugees who arrive in Toronto with limited incomes are restricted to the rental market. In contrast to most metropolitan areas in the United States, public housing developments are located throughout Metropolitan Toronto with much of this housing located in less accessible and less attractive suburban areas, often in close proximity to lower rent private sector apartment buildings. Indeed, these two types of rental housing tend to be clustered thus restricting the locational choices of lower income households who end up in these less desirable locations. New immigrants and refugees, being new to Toronto's housing system, often end up with the least desirable housing units in the least desirable areas. Some of the public housing waiting list is comprised of households wanting to move to locations that are more desirable.

For many within the Jamaican and Somali communities, the barriers also imply higher rents and longer searches for suitable housing. The Jamaicans, in particular, mentioned that they feel they pay higher rents to obtain housing that is conveniently located to public transportation in a 'clean area'. Discrimination by landlords on the basis of skin colour and cultural traditions means that Jamaicans and Somalis, in particular, have fewer housing choices. Jamaican participants in the focus groups were especially critical of the way in which they believe the public housing authority in Toronto allocates Jamaican (and other 'visible minority' people of West Indies and African dissent, whether Canadian born or immigrant) to particular housing developments.

In contrast to the Jamaicans and Somalis, the Polish do not face discrimination on the basis of skin colour but language problems and lack of familiarity with the functioning of the housing market also lead to fewer housing choices and especially fewer locations. Most Poles first look for housing in the existing area of Polish settlement in Toronto, 'little Poland' in the Roncesvalles/Parkdale district.

Although the major theme of all three groups concerned the restricted housing choices and residential locations, a number of other implications of the barriers were raised, especially the Somalis. For the Somalis large families mean that children and other family members must often be kept out of site of a landlord in order to have a chance at renting an apartment. The result, when the family moves in, is overcrowding and the potential for eviction leading to more frequent moves and the potential for psychological and further financial problems.

The three groups identified a number of strategies in an attempt to overcome the barriers that they experience in Toronto's housing market. Perhaps the most important of these is social networks and seeking advice from community agencies. For all three groups strong networks of contacts (friends and relatives) facilitates the housing search process and adjustment to Canadian society. Use of social networks is not surprising because all three groups come from societies where a close network of friends and relatives is highly valued and a person's word is often more important than a signature on a legal document. The existence of a more formal set of community institutions staffed by supportive individuals is also important and in all three communities a set of non-governmental agencies have developed to assist new immigrants with a variety of settlement issues. The Somalis, in particular, have developed an impressive number of community support facilities in a very short period. This is probably because as the newest of the three groups they do not have the same experience in the Toronto housing market and the same level of social networks among family and friends.

The result of these strategies is a considerable amount of locational clustering among each group, sometimes as a result of racial and cultural discrimination and sometimes as a coping mechanism. The latter, however, takes different forms in the three communities. Jamaicans, for example, miss a sense of 'community' in Toronto and often live close to people of their own cultural background for that reason. For the Poles, language is a problem and they feel at 'home' in Toronto living among those who speak the same language. As members of each group become segregated residentially, locational clustering becomes self-reinforcing and an important strategy in its own right for overcoming the barriers that each group faces in accessing suitable housing in the Toronto area.

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Differential Experience of the Barriers by the Three Groups

The focus group discussions, as an exploratory qualitative data collection method, does not provide enough information for us to rank the barriers in terms of the difficulty they impose and the extent to which they are prevalent. We did finish this phase of the research, however, with a sense of which barriers each of the three ethnic groups tended to focus upon and discuss most often.

Skin colour, or perceived housing discrimination based on 'race,' is first on our list for Jamaicans while it is third on the list for Somalis. This does not mean Somalis face less discrimination on the basis of 'race' than Jamaicans. Rather, because they are newcomers to Toronto's housing market and refugees with few resources different factors predominated in their discussion of barriers. These include their lack of income and the extent to which their cultural practices and religion are different from mainstream Toronto. Household size is also a barrier for many Somalis and much less for Jamaicans and Poles. This is in part a cultural attribute of the Somalis who have on average much larger families than Canadians and most other new immigrant groups. It is also in part a reflection of the existing rental stock in Toronto, where smaller one and two bedroom apartments are much more common and affordable than townhouses with three or more bedrooms. For both the Somalis and Poles knowledge of the housing system is a significant barrier because Toronto's housing system is so different from the situation in Poland and Somalia. For Jamaicans, as an English speaking group, with a large system of community agencies and associations to serve them in Toronto, and coming from a country with some British-origin institutions similar to those in Canada, knowledge of the housing system and knowledge of Canadian institutions and culture are less a barrier. Therefore, discussion of racism in the housing system, low incomes relative to housing costs in Toronto, and discrimination based on receipt of social assistance are much more important barriers for the Jamaicans and, except for racial discrimination, also for Poles.

The major point is that not all immigrant groups have the same experience with the housing system and not all the barriers are experienced in the same way for each group. We deliberately chose three very different newcomer groups for our study and the differences were apparent even after one or two focus group sessions. Further research could focus on particular barriers as experienced by different groups and lead to policy and program recommendations that specifically target certain practices while remaining sensitive to the fact that the barrier plays itself out in different ways for different groups of newcomers.

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Focus Group Findings: Conclusion

The focus here is differential access to housing by three recent groups of immigrants and refugees in the Toronto area. In particular, we have emphasised the barriers that recent immigrants face in housing access. This is partially because the focus group discussions centred more on this issue than on the results of the barriers or the strategies used in response to the barriers. The research was exploratory. Based on previous academic literature and the few Canadian studies that have focused on ethnicity and housing we knew that there would be barriers to housing access. Through the nine focus groups, however, we were able to identify in considerably more detail for the first time the distinct types of barriers that are operative in the Toronto housing market and the relative importance of these barriers for the three very different newcomer groups.

Our research identified the existence of at least eleven barriers that affect access to housing by recent immigrants in the Toronto area. This is based on the reported experience of a mix of participants in our focus groups. Not unexpectedly, level and source of income is particularly important and affects all three groups. Other important barriers do not cut across all groups in the same way. Skin colour, as an identifier of the social construction 'race', is obviously not important for the Poles but is for the Jamaicans and the Somalis. Language is an important barrier for Poles and Somalis. The various barriers also have different affects depending on the particular circumstances of each ethno/cultural group. For example, Jamaicans, who as a group have had a substantial presence in Toronto since the early 1970s, are more familiar with the types of housing available and housing 'rights' than the Somalis, who began arriving in Toronto during the late 1980s.

We also conclude that the experience of some of these barriers may change over time while others are difficult, if not impossible, to change. The literature on ethno-cultural barriers tends to identify two basic categories, primary and secondary. Primary barriers, including skin colour and gender, are virtually impossible to change while ethnicity, culture and religion are difficult to alter. These barriers are socially constructed in the sense that they are given meanings by larger society. In contrast, some secondary barriers such as language and knowledge of institutions and culture can change and often do change over time. The individual or household has some control over these barriers. Some immigrants and refugees, however, are more successful than others in overcoming these barriers. In part, this is because some groups have a range of support systems available to them in the Toronto area while others do not. A further set of secondary variables such as employment opportunities and level of income are structural ones which may change but for which individuals do not have as much control.

Much of the analysis from the focus groups is descriptive in nature. A hypothesis of this research is that the housing barriers of individual households occur at the intersection of two basic levels of analysis, differential incorporation and housing trajectory. Differential incorporation occurs at the macro level and refers to the lack of equal access by particular groups to the rewards provided by society. Most of the literature in this area focuses on employment and educational opportunities as well as income differentials. We are adding adequate and affordable housing. In contrast to differential incorporation, the notion of housing trajectory occurs at the level of the individual household and refers to the social mobility of the individual or household over its life course in a particular society. Our argument is that housing barriers are experienced at the micro level of the housing trajectory but are the result of macro level structural and institutional dynamics. The latter include opportunities and constraints in a local housing market as well as changes in the economy, government regulations and other institutional arrangements. These structural and institutional dynamics affect the integrative or exclusionary nature of local housing markets.

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