International students in Canada are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation due to the country’s costly housing market, with discriminatory rental ads, overcrowding, and sub-standard living conditions among the issues they face. Discrimination based on ethnicity and gender is common, with landlords often demanding large upfront payments and international students less likely to complain due to their temporary migration status. Even though discriminatory ads violate the Ontario Human Rights Code, they continue to be posted on public websites. Moreover, accommodation aimed at international students is often sub-standard, overcrowded, and unsafe, with many lacking fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, and pest infestations. To end this culture of exploitation, governments and post-secondary institutions must bring about structural changes, while municipalities need to better regulate illegal rental units. It is also important to consult and heed the opinions of international students when developing solutions.
Canada has more than 807,000 international students, 40% of whom are from India. However, despite the fact that all these students need housing, the country’s rental market is increasingly discriminatory towards them. Discriminatory rental ads often target Indian students, with landlords seeking tenants who are vegetarian or from particular regions of India. Such ads not only violate the Ontario Human Rights Code, but they also prey on international students, who are often sought because their relatively recent arrival in Canada and temporary migration status means they are less likely to complain.
Accommodation aimed at international students is also often sub-standard, overcrowded, and unsafe. Brampton, a city where many Indian international students reside, had a vacancy rate of 0.8% in 2019, which is well below the minimum of 3% considered acceptable. The city is estimated to have 50,000 illegal units, and in January 2023, an international student in Cape Breton, N.S. died in a fire in an overcrowded international student house.
Female international students, in particular, are at risk of sexual harassment, assault, and exploitation. In fact, a 2018 survey at McGill University found that 38.6% of international students experienced sexual harassment, while 23.6% experienced sexual assault. Overcrowding is also a common issue, with rental costs increasingly unaffordable, and many students renting single rooms with others. Moreover, stories of landlord harassment and wrongful evictions are common across Canada, and the costly rental market means that homelessness is a common experience for students.
To end this culture of exploitation, governments and post-secondary institutions must bring about structural changes. Municipalities also need to better regulate illegal rental units, while international students eager to voice solutions must be consulted and heeded.