Highlighting Housing Inequality seeks to make accessible vital information regarding housing discrimination in Canada. Housing discrimination occurs at both the individual and the systemic level, deeply embedded in our legal, zoning, and housing practices. This research acts as a starting point for critical conversations, reflections, and questions regarding Canadian housing practices.
This research has been undertaken at the University of British Columbia Point Grey (Vancouver) campus, which sits on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people.
Housing Discrimination is a complex subject; in the context of this research, it is defined as:
The direct, indirect and systemic prejudicial treatment of certain groups of people that have been historically disadvantaged (specifically on the grounds of Indigenous identity, ethnicity, religion, race, sex, age, disability, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status) in purchasing, renting, use and enjoyment of, and access to housing; colonially-built systems frame and enforce this inequity.
This definition is informed by the following existing resources:
Novac, Sylvia, Joe Darden, David Hulchanski, and Anne-Marie Seguin. Housing Discrimination in Canada: The State of Knowledge, February 2002. http://www.hnc.utoronto.ca/pdfs/home/Novac_Discrimination-Lit-Re.pdf.
“Housing discrimination consists of any behaviour, practice, or policy within the public or market realm that directly, indirectly, or systemically causes harm through inequitable access to, or use and enjoyment of, housing for members of social groups that have been historically disadvantaged.”
“Human Rights and Duties in Housing.” BC Human Rights Tribunal, April 9, 2024. https://www.bchrt.bc.ca/human-rights-duties/housing/.
“Tenancy discrimination refers to poor treatment based on a personal characteristic regarding renting a space, the terms and conditions of a tenancy, or being evicted.”
“Discrimination refers to poor treatment when buying property, or regarding the terms or conditions of the purchase, based on a personal characteristic.”
“Chapter 210.” Human Rights Code, April 16, 2024. https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_96210_01#section10.
“A person must not
(a) deny to a person or class of persons the right to occupy, as a tenant, space that is represented as being available for occupancy by a tenant, or
(b) discriminate against a person or class of persons regarding a term or condition of the tenancy of the space,
because of the Indigenous identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age or lawful source of income of that person or class of persons, or of any other person or class of persons.”