Community organizations:

• Calgary Homeless Foundation
• United Way of Calgary and Area

Future research / gaps identified:

• The need for additional research into the negotiation of assistance and informal housing arrangements among ethno-cultural communities.
• The role of gender in housing experiences for newcomers, particularly in understanding how best to assist women experiencing isolation and abuse.
• The need for future research exploring the role of immigrant status and how it contributes to homelessness.
• The particular struggles of refugee claimants, Temporary Foreign Workers, and illegal immigrants in obtaining and maintaining housing.
• Promising practices in the delivery of culturally appropriate re-housing, housing, and prevention services to newcomers should be explored.
• Improving the understanding of newcomers’ housing issues and how this has been intensified by economic restructuring at the global level is necessary to develop appropriate policy recommendations.

Integration timeline:

Key recommendations:

• Increase the availability of affordable housing options for newcomers in Calgary, including building new houses and expanding rental assistance programs.
• Improve recognition of foreign credentials to increase employment opportunities for newcomers.
• Enhance communication and collaboration between settlement and homeless sectors to improve service delivery coordination, including creating a shared database accessible by all service agencies.
• Address the unique challenges faced by Temporary Foreign Workers, including loosening work permit restrictions that tie workers to one employer.
• Develop and implement curricula in grade-school and middle-school to raise awareness of issues including immigration, racism, and discrimination, and launch public relations and media campaigns to raise awareness with the general public.

Key findings:

• Many newcomers face significant challenges in finding and maintaining affordable and suitable housing, which can lead to homelessness or precarious housing situations.
• Newcomers often rely on informal networks, such as friends and family, to find housing, but these arrangements can be unstable and may lead to overcrowding or other problems.
• Discrimination and racism can be significant barriers to accessing housing for newcomers, particularly those who are racialized or have limited English proficiency.
• Women newcomers are particularly vulnerable to housing insecurity, as they may face isolation, abuse, and other forms of gender-based violence.
• There is a need for more culturally appropriate and responsive housing services for newcomers, as well as policy changes to address the systemic barriers that contribute to housing insecurity.

Key populations: newcomers in general

Location: Calgary

Open access: No