International students more likely to live in unsuitable housing: StatsCan

Aneet Kaur tries to spend as much time out of the house as she can. The 32-year-old international student from India shares a two-bedroom basement suite with five other people in the Surrey, B.C., neighbourhood of Fleetwood.

She shares her room with two other students.

"The room size is too small. How can three people live there?" she said. "There is no storage capacity in there. How can I put more stuff in there?"

Between a lack of privacy, unannounced visits from her landlord and cost of living challenges, Kaur told CBC News she's struggled with her mental health.

"Depression is the worst thing that I get in the two months [since I came] to Canada," said Kaur, who is currently enrolled at University Canada West.

"I was a happy person in India."

Kaur's situation is far from unique. According to a Statistics Canada report, international students were more likely to live in unsuitable housing in 2021 than Canadian-born students.

In the ten Canadian municipalities with the largest number of international students, 25 to 63 per cent of them were living in unsuitable housing.

By comparison, the rate of students living in unsuitable housing was 13 to 45 percentage points lower among Canadian-born students aged 18 to 24. 

One of the requirements for suitable housing, according to the report, is that adults should have their own bedroom, if they are not part of a couple.

The study, which was based on the most recent census data, found country of origin accounted for most of the variation between municipalities in rates of housing suitability among international students.

Notably, Indian students were more likely to live in unsuitable housing than students from other countries.

In Brampton, Ont., and Surrey, the municipalities with the largest proportions of Indian students, more than 60 per cent of international students were living in unsuitable housing.