Students from India often live in unsuitable units: report

International students, including those in Metro Vancouver, were more likely to live in unsuitable housing in 2021 than Canadian-born students, a report by Statistics Canada shows.

In the top 10 municipalities with the largest number of international students, 25 per cent to 63 per cent of them were living in unsuitable housing.

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

One of the requirements for suitable housing 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 among municipalities in rates of housing suitability among foreign students. Indian students were more likely to live in unsuitable housing than students from other countries.

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

Meanwhile only 16.6 per cent of Canadian-born students in Surrey lived in housing considered unsuitable by the statistics agency.

The number of international students has only increased since the data were collected. In 2023, there were more than one million international students in Canada, a 29 per cent rise from the previous year.

The federal government said this year that it is imposing a two-year cap on study permits to curb international student enrolments.