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The housing situation of refugees in Montréal three years after arrival: The case of asylum seekers who obtained permanent residence

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Abstract

This article presents the results of a secondary analysis of the housing-related variables contained in a survey of the settlement experiences of some 400 regularized refugee claimants living in Greater Montréal. It examines housing as a vector of settlement and integration, as well as the related neighbourhood context. The data indicate that the refugees are relatively well housed in terms of dwelling quality, but spend inordinately high percentages of their income on rent, essentially because of their low incomes. More optimistically, the refugees have access to social support from within their ethnolinguistic group, and in their neighbourhoods they are not isolated from the majority cultural groups of Québec society.

Résumé

Ce réexamen des variables de logement d'une enquête sur les trois premières années de vie à Montréal de quelque 400 demandeurs d'asile ayant obtenu le statut de réfugié porte sur le rôle du logement, du voisinage et du quartier comme vecteurs d'établissement et d'intégration. Les enquêtés sont plutôt bien logés, mais consacrent au loyer une part excessive de leur modeste budget. Heureusement, ils ont trouvé de l'aide au sein de leur communauté d'origine, et ne sont pas isolés des groupes linguistiques et culturels majoritaires de la société québécoise et canadienne.

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  1. INRS-Urbanisation, Culture et Société Institut national de la recherche scientifique, Canada

    Damaris Rose

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Rose, D. The housing situation of refugees in Montréal three years after arrival: The case of asylum seekers who obtained permanent residence. Int. Migration & Integration 2, 493–529 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-001-1010-3

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