Despite skyrocketing housing prices, Afghan refugees find ‘home’ in Canada

Two months after arriving in Hamilton, Nisar Durrani's family has a place they can call home.

At the beginning of October, his wife and six kids - who fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan for Canada in August - moved into a townhouse on the west Mountain. It took about a month to find a place he could afford. Before that, his family was living in a hotel.

But he has only good things to say about his new country and its people.

I love Canada," Durrani said. It is my new home."

The three-bedroom rental is very good and comfortable," he said on the phone. He's renting it for $2,750 per month with government support. But he says he could only afford it because two of his adult children are chipping in with their own allowances.

Durrani is among 208 government-assisted refugees who've arrived in the city as of Oct. 25, with more expected in the future.

While they're safe from the dangers of Taliban rule, Afghan families worry about loved ones back home while facing a long road ahead to settle in Canada.

Settlement is not an easy journey," said Rashed Afif, senior director of newcomer, housing and employment services at Wesley Urban Ministries, the local non-profit supporting government-assisted refugees.

The housing market has been a challenge. Last week, Afif said more than 50 individuals have so far been housed in Hamilton, which he called a good number." Another 47 moved to other cities where they have relatives or other connections. Other families continue to live in hotels until they find permanent accommodation.

Government-assisted refugees generally receive financial support for 12 months from a resettlement assistance program. That includes a one-time allowance for startup items" and monthly support, said an email from Nancy Caron, spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

Refugees also receive help from government-funded service providers (in this case, Wesley) to get temporary accommodation - like the hotels where families originally stay - and help finding housing that meets their family size, theirs needs for security, affordability and accessibility, as well as proximity to local amenities such as schools.

The service providers work as quickly as possible to secure adequate and secure housing" for the refugees in their community, Caron continued. They use their knowledge of the local housing market to assist the refugees in finding permanent accommodation."

Durrani is grateful for what he has. He hopes he can find a job soon so he can still afford his rent after the government assistance ends in 12 months. The former interpreter for the Canadian special forces in Kandahar hopes to find a job in a similar line of work. He's fluent in four languages - Urdu, Persian, Pashto and English.

Chris Ecklund, a Hamilton businessperson and founder of the Canadian Heroes Foundation, said if Hamiltonians know about rental units where refugee families could live, they can inform the Afghan Association of Hamilton or his non-profit group, which is supporting evacuation and resettlement efforts.

Ecklund encouraged landlords to be more open to renting to refugees, noting that he's seen landlords decline to rent to refugees because the would-be tenants didn't have an established credit rating or job.

When (Afghans) signed up to help ... our forces, they basically signed up to put their life on the line," Ecklund said. Everybody needs to understand the ethical and moral obligation we have as a country and a people to the Afghanistan people."

Meanwhile, Durrani and other refugees continue to worry about their loved ones left behind in Afghanistan. Among them is Zohal, who didn't want her real name published because of concerns about the safety of her loved ones.

The former Afghan politician and human rights activist arrived in Hamilton this month with her husband and two school-age sons.

Imagine a government collapses and then a terrorist and violent group takes over the country," said Zohal, with Afif interpreting.

She described a Judgment Day" scene when the Taliban took Kabul.

The stores were closing, people were running around, cars were all rushing around, people were hiding," she said.

Zohal and her family fled their home and hid at a friend's house. Eventually, they escaped to Qatar. From there, they faced a choice: go to Germany or Canada.

In September, they arrived in Canada. The family landed in Hamilton on Oct. 13, where they're staying at a hotel on Upper James Street.

We feel relaxed ... we feel happy," Zohal said. But their concerns for their loved ones is their biggest problem" now.

Wesley has been reporting those worries back to the federal government. Afif said the concern is a more of a trend with recent refugees than those who've come in the past.

Wesley is accepting donations to support families. For more information, visit wesley.ca/afghan-refugee-fund.

Maria Iqbal is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator covering aging. Reach her via email: miqbal@thespec.com.