Finding a place to live in Salmon Arm can be tough for anyone, given today鈥檚 housing shortages, but it appears particularly difficult for new immigrants. 

Shuswap Immigrant Services Society has seen how newcomers are struggling to find a home, explained Brianne McFarlane, community outreach coordinator. The society recently created a poster saying it is supporting employed newcomers looking for housing.

鈥淪earching for emergency, temporary and long-term options within Salmon Arm and surrounding areas,鈥� it reads. 鈥淚f you have any types of accommodation available, please consider contacting us.鈥�

McFarlane said it would be ideal to have a list of people who might have available accommodation, so staff could just check in and see if there鈥檚 something that fits a particular client who鈥檚 searching.

鈥淚 would say this month we have probably five people looking, all with different scenarios and situations. There are quite a few people who are in housing that isn鈥檛 ideal,鈥� she added.

Some people who have places to rent might be afraid to publicize them because they could find themselves overwhelmed by responses, she surmised.

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McFarlane said there may be several other reasons for difficulties. One of the most active places where people are posting rentals seems to be a private Facebook page, she said. The feedback the society has received is that some newcomers haven鈥檛 been accepted into the group, perhaps because there may be discrimination going on.

Or people with rentals may be leery of scams. When new immigrants come here, they often don鈥檛 have a Canadian phone number, she explained. Instead, perhaps a WhatsApp contact. So it can be difficult to converse back and forth. Also people renting like to receive references, which newcomers might not have.

For the newcomers, although they would like to be looking for housing before they arrive, they, too, are leery of scams, she pointed out. Some have been scammed when they鈥檝e made an international money transfer to secure a place.

Although more housing seems to be available in Tappen and Blind Bay, transportation can be a problem. Because new immigrants often don鈥檛 immediately get cars, they try to find accommodation that鈥檚 central. Many work in the hospital, McFarlane said, night shifts or early morning, and the buses don鈥檛 run then.

The last piece, she noted, is that for most new immigrants, English isn鈥檛 their first language. So they鈥檙e trying to understand Canadian customs around renting.

鈥淚magine trying to navigate ads, phone calls and messages, when English isn鈥檛 your first language. It鈥檚 difficult. And trying to find something affordable.鈥�

Shuswap Immigrant Services Society also supports clients who, unfortunately, are in a precarious situation because of their immigration status.

McFarlane explains they come to the Shuswap on a closed permit so they are essentially tied to one employer. They are not allowed to work for anyone else. They will come to the area for two years, for instance, to work certain hours at a certain wage.

Because of the power dynamic in that kind of situation, she said, there is opportunity for abuse. Sometimes newcomers are given housing with their employment.

鈥淚n some cases it鈥檚 really great and really helps,鈥� she noted.

However, if housing is tied to the employee doing something beyond the scope of the contract or something dangerous, the worker may be forced to leave their job or housing. Yet then they鈥檙e not able to get another job.

鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely the dark side of the temporary foreign worker program,鈥� said McFarlane. 鈥淎 lot of them are so grateful (to be here working); we really need them and they need us.鈥�

Even if a newcomer just needs a room overnight, often a credit card is needed, which they might not have.

鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 folks with kids, sometimes it鈥檚 single people, sometimes it鈥檚 for varying lengths of time.鈥�

If you have accommodation, short- or long-term, you鈥檙e invited to contact Brianne at the Shuswap Immigrant Services Society at outreach@sissociety.ca or by calling 250-804-2726.

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