Immigrants' perceptions of housing discrimination in Toronto: The Housing New Canadians project

The Housing New Canadians project investigated recent immigrants' perceptio ns of discrimination in finding rental housing since arriving in Toronto, C anada. Respondents from three immigrant communities-Jamaicans, Poles, and S omalis-indicated how much housing discrimination they had personally, exper ienced and how much discrimination they perceived to have been directed tow ard their group. They also rated how much each of several factors, includin g race, income level, source of income, immigrant status, language, ethnic or national background, religion, and family size, contributed to each type of perceived discrimination. Jamaican and Somali immigrants perceived grea ter personal and group discrimination and also showed a greater discrepancy between personal and group discrimination than did Polish immigrants. Impl ications are discussed.