Let's Talk Housing, S2E4 - How do newcomers get affordable housing in BC?

In 2021, BC welcomed more newcomers than any other region in Canada. With an aging population, declining birthrate, and the lowest unemployment rate in decades, Canada is set to welcome hundreds of thousands of new residents, including humanitarian refugees, for the next several years. According to immigrant and refugee settlement service providers, securing permanent, secure, affordable, family-sized housing is the biggest challenge to helping folks settle. What is being done to help newcomers secure housing amidst a housing affordability crisis? In this episode, Chris Friesen, Chief Operating Officer with Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia (ISS of BC), joins host Sara Goldvine to talk about the challenges for refugees and immigrants, and approaches ISS of BC is taking to secure affordable housing for newcomers. Fazel Noorian, a newcomer from Afghanistan who has found housing for himself and his family through BC Housing, also shares his story of searching for housing.
Guests include:
Chris Friesen, Chief Operating Officer, Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia
Fazel Noorian, new BC Housing resident
Learn more about BC Housing: www.bchousing.org