125 vulnerable Afghans landed in London, less than half have permanent housing

In London, 125 vulnerable Afghans have resettled in the city, which is up from 36 this summer. Less than half of them have permanent housing.  

According to Maria Franco the marketing and communications manager at the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre (CCLC), 53 have found permanent housing throughout the city. 

The remaining 72 are living in temporary residences or hotels where they are provided with linens and food. CCLC assesses their needs, has them do a "mandatory orientation to life in Canada session" and helps them finding permanent housing. 

One of the issues in securing housing is the lack of affordable housing stock. She says that newcomers are given financial support from the government for housing but it is an issue if housing costs exceed the budget. 

"It has been difficult this year just because of, of course, the rent increases and having newcomers coming in," says Franco. "You have landlords, not necessarily don't want newcomers, but they need to, of course, have all the documentation, the credit scores, all those things." 

The federal government has agreed to increase the number of vulnerable Afghans they're resettling from 20,000 to 40,000. Franco says that more are expected to arrive in London, although she doesn't know how many. 

"We're working as hard as we can to get everyone accommodated, but it really does depend on the inventory within the rental housing market, I suppose," says Franco.