When Sheldon Bayer went looking online for a house to rent, he was prepared to answer questions about his income. He never expected to get questions about his race.

On Friday, Bayer was out viewing potential homes and texted a phone number for an ad listed on Kijiji. The response he got back stunned him.

“They seemed OK, the little conversation we had before, but then the question came if we were Native,” said Bayer.

At first, Bayer said he didn’t know how to respond, but the question angered him.

“I texted back, ‘Does it matter?’” he said. “And they texted back ‘Doesn’t matter.’ But they asked. And then I just said, ‘No thanks. We don’t tolerate discrimination. And yes, I am Native,’ I had to put at the end.”

The Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in rental housing based on ancestry, nationality, religion, ethnic background sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, political beliefs, disability, or social disadvantage.

Bayer hasn’t reported the person to any authorities, because he said he wants to hear their side of things first. He thinks maybe the person has heard some misleading stereotypes, or doesn’t properly understand the rules of renting a home.

“They’re ignorant in a way that I feel bad for them. To even have thought to ask that, let alone to actually ask it, it’s definitely someone that I don’t want to deal with and I wouldn’t recommend anyone in the city to deal with.”

Bayer has lived in Winnipeg for 11 years and said this is the first time he’s encountered something like this. He wonders how common an experience this is and worries about how it could affect his children.

“It affects me and my family, and it affects so many people,” he said. “I don’t want this to be an ongoing issue living in a city that I love.”

‘IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL: LANDLORD

CTV Winnipeg reached out to the landlord. In a phone interview, he said he never denied Bayer from renting his home, but he should know who's moving in.

The landlord said he rents to two other indigenous tenants already, and regularly asks potential tenants what their race and background is.

He said it’s a normal question to ask. “I am East Indian guy, right? Somebody messaged me and he asked me, are you East Indian, guy? And if I ask them, they say yes or no.”

He said he doesn’t understand why they feel they were discriminated against.

“It’s normal, it’s not a big deal. Even though I didn’t say no to them or anything wrong to them.”

QUESTION ABOUT RACE ‘COMPLETELY OF BASE’

A spokesperson for the Manitoba Professional Property Association said asking questions about a person’s ethnicity is “completely off base.”

“Any question about anything that’s defined in the Human Rights Code is not allowed. It doesn’t matter,” said Avrom Charach.

He said property managers should only be concerned with whether the person is unsuitable for the unit.

“And being aboriginal, or female, or 20 years old, or whatever else might be in the legislation, does not make you an undesirable renter.”