Live and let live!
One of the most debated issues among Canadians today is housing, particularly affordability and access. Rising rent and homeownership costs have driven major policy shifts in recent years, many centred around immigration.
The growing demand for housing, coupled with limited supply, has prompted the federal government to rethink immigration and student housing policies. Yet a key question persists: Is Canada’s housing crisis about shortage, affordability, or accessibility?
While all three matter, access appears to be the most immediate challenge, especially for newcomers.
A joint study by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Statistics Canada, using 2021 Census data, revealed that immigrants occupy more housing units, both owned and rented, than Canadian-born residents.
On average, immigrants occupy 310 owned and 151 rental units per 1,000 people, compared with 397 units for Canadian-born individuals. Non-permanent residents, including work and study permit holders, occupy 41 owned and 316 rental units, totalling 357 units per 1,000 people.
In essence, while immigration contributes to housing demand, the data also underscores the economic participation of immigrants as active contributors to both the rental and ownership markets, not merely as occupants, but as investors and innovators.
For many newcomers, whether international students, temporary foreign workers, or recent permanent residents, the process of renting a home in Canada can be daunting. Despite having stable incomes or savings, several barriers persist in the rental housing market.
Common challenges include:
- Lack of Canadian credit or rental history: Landlords rely on local references that newcomers typically lack.
- Upfront rent demands: Some landlords request several months’ rent, skirting housing laws and burdening new tenants.
- Discrimination: Racialised newcomers sometimes report higher levels of bias in the rental process.
- Language and legal barriers: Limited understanding of lease terms or tenant rights leaves many vulnerable.
- Weak social networks: Without local contacts, newcomers often rely on short-term or costly accommodations.
As more temporary residents arrive, including international students and workers, the strain on the rental market continues to grow, creating an urgent need for flexible and inclusive housing solutions.
In 2023, Edeme Kelikume, a Nigerian tech entrepreneur visiting Toronto for the Collision Conference, encountered these challenges firsthand.
“I tried to rent a place for just a few months but couldn’t,” he recalls. “Local documentation requirements and credit checks blocked me at every turn. After seven Airbnbs and countless rejections, I realised it wasn’t just my problem. Thousands of newcomers, single parents, and families face the same thing.”
That experience inspired Tempho, an online housing platform that connects newcomers seeking short- and medium-term rentals with hosts offering verified, furnished spaces. Designed to bridge the gap between temporary housing and long-term rental options, Tempho simplifies settlement for immigrants, students, and temporary workers.
The platform allows hosts to list rooms or apartments with flexible terms, while newcomers can access housing without traditional barriers like credit history or extensive documentation. By combining verification tools, fair pricing, and a community-first model, Tempho is emerging as one of several tech-driven initiatives reshaping the Canadian rental landscape.
So far, Tempho has housed over 500 newcomers, managed about 200 rooms across the Peel Region, and paid over $2.5 million directly to landlords.
Canada’s federal government continues to face growing pressure to balance immigration levels with housing availability. Recent measures, such as adjustments to study permit allocations and the Housing Accelerator Fund, aim to improve housing supply. Yet experts argue that policy solutions must go hand-in-hand with innovation and community participation.
Immigrant-led initiatives like Tempho highlight how Canada’s newcomers are not only participants in the country’s economy but also key problem-solvers.
While access to affordable housing remains a nationwide challenge, these emerging platforms reflect a broader shift from policy dependency to grassroots innovation powered by those who understand the problem most intimately.
As Canada continues to welcome newcomers, these creative solutions could play a critical role in easing housing access, fostering inclusion, and reinforcing the idea that immigration is not just a driver of population growth but a source of resilience and ingenuity in addressing one of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Canada’s federal government continues to face growing pressure to balance immigration levels with housing availability. Recent measures, such as adjustments to study permit allocations and the Housing Accelerator Fund, aim to improve housing supply. Yet experts argue that policy solutions must go hand-in-hand with innovation and community participation.
Immigrant-led initiatives like Tempho highlight how Canada’s newcomers are not only participants in the country’s economy but also key problem-solvers. While access to affordable housing remains a nationwide challenge, these emerging platforms reflect a broader shift from policy dependency to grassroots innovation powered by those who understand the problem most intimately.
As Canada continues to welcome newcomers, these creative solutions could play a critical role in easing housing access, fostering inclusion, and reinforcing the idea that immigration is not just a driver of population growth but a source of resilience and ingenuity in addressing one of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
