VANCOUVER—The Progressive Housing Society is scrambling to find housing for a Syrian refugee family, saying the household of seven is facing discrimination in the race to secure affordable housing by Thursday.

Over the weekend, society staff and the family went scouting for units within the family’s $2,000 budget in Richmond and Burnaby. With the society’s help, the family was close to securing the perfect place: a three-bedroom unit with a den in a townhouse.

Then the property owner learned it was a family of seven, explained Jaye Treit, executive director of the society. The owner told the family they would probably have to go as far as Maple Ridge to find housing that would accommodate all of them within their budget.

And the pattern kept repeating.

“There’s definitely some feelings from my staff that there is a bit of discrimination happening around it … Whether it’s an owner, a landlord, a property manager … as soon as they find out that there are seven of them, they almost immediately refuse to even accept the application,” Treit said.

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Treit believes there’s “probably a combination of reasons” behind the rejections. The landlords could be concerned about a larger family putting extra “wear and tear” on the home. Or, Treit suggested, it could be that some Canadians are “just uncomfortable” with larger family sizes they aren’t used to seeing.

The society did not name the family in order to protect the privacy of its clients.

Language has also been a barrier in securing a home. The society has been communicating with the family primarily through their 14-year-old daughter, who has some English skills.

When asked whether the family could be facing racial discrimination, Treit said that “nobody has presented outwardly as such,” but her staff suspects it could be a factor. After the owners meet the family, “the interests start to decline.”

According to Treit, the family — which has five children ranging from 18 months old to 14 years old — came from Nanaimo to Vancouver at the end of August seeking help from the society. Their documents showed they had arrived in Canada under the federal sponsorship program roughly 18 months ago, Treit said.

In Nanaimo, they were told to vacate their home due to “substandard” conditions leading to the home being “condemned,” Treit said.

The father, a painter by trade, arrived in the Lower Mainland with his family because of better job prospects, Treit said.

The society has been paying for their hotel stay since Aug. 30 at a rate of $150 a night. Treit is uncertain whether the society can keep providing the temporary solution past Thursday, meaning the family could end up homeless.

Treit believes the chance of finding permanent housing by Thursday is “slim” but she is hopeful the public plea might lead to an opportunity.

She is hopeful that the society’s funding agency, BC Housing, will extend the funding needed to keep the family off the streets in the short-term.

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Treit said the situation demonstrates the difficulty of securing affordable housing in the region. Having worked with individuals at risk of homelessness, Treit said that when clients arrive with “complex health needs” or a large family “it adds a whole other layer of challenges when it comes to finding housing.”

According to the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, it is illegal for a landlord to reject tenants based on race, but family size is not included in the BC Human Rights Code.

“Landlords can restrict the number of occupants in your rental unit, but they are not allowed to refuse to rent to you because you have children,” the centre’s website reads.

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