Recent Immigrants in Metropolitan Areas: Victoria—A Comparative Profile Based on the 2001 Census

Part F: Housing

Crowded accommodations more common for recent immigrants

In Victoria, the number of persons per room in households of recent immigrants is well above the overall average. As many as 10% of recent immigrant households live in crowded conditions (that is, there are more persons than rooms in the home). The incidence of crowding is even higher among households consisting only of very recent immigrants. By contrast, crowding is very rare among Canadian-born households and earlier immigrant households. Compared to the rest of Canada, crowding among recent immigrants in Victoria is not high.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents. For definitions of household, crowding and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Large households likely to have crowded accommodations

Crowding is related to size of household. The larger the household, the greater the chance that there are more persons than rooms in the dwelling. This pattern is found among households of the Canadian-born as well as immigrants, despite the fact that there is much less crowding in households of the Canadian-born than in households of recent immigrants.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household, crowding and related concepts, see the Glossary.

As shown earlier, households of immigrants who landed before 1986 are similar to the households of the Canadian-born in size. They also have accommodations that are similar in size to that of the Canadian-born.

Three in ten recent immigrant households face high housing cost

Three in ten recent immigrant households spend more than 30% of their income on accommodations, and many of these households spend more than 50% of their income on accommodations. These shares are quite similar to those of Canadian-born households. Households comprised entirely of very recent immigrants are even more likely to have relatively high housing costs, with nearly one-half spending 30% or more of their income on housing.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary. Totals do not add to 100% due to some non-reporting households.

Housing costs of more than 30% of income are considered burdensome, and households facing that level of cost generally have low incomes. Many households of recently landed immigrants have low incomes and try to keep the cost of accommodations down by choosing small quarters and making their households large. But often this is not enough to bring housing costs down to less than 30% of income.

Housing of very recent immigrants in similar state of repair

The dwellings of households of immigrants who landed after 1985 are somewhat more likely to have been recently built than the houses of the Canadian-born.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents not shown in the table. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

The state of repair of the dwellings of recent immigrants is virtually identical to that of the Canadian-born. This suggests that, although crowding and the cost of housing is clearly a challenge for many recent immigrants, they tend not to resort to sub-standard accommodations.

Note: The total “All households” includes households of non-permanent residents. For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Home ownership fairly common

One in three households consisting only of very recent immigrants owns their home, compared to six in ten Canadian-born households and three in four earlier immigrant households.

Figure F-1: Immigrant households (by period of immigration) and Canadian-born households—home ownership by household type, Victoria Census Metropolitan Area, 2001 (percentage)

Note: For definitions of household and related concepts, see the Glossary.

Home-ownership is much higher among earlier immigrants than among the Canadian-born. This probably reflects the higher average age of earlier immigrants, but it may also point to different choices.

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