Fredericton's housing crisis prevents immigrants like me from pursuing a Canadian dream

This column is an opinion by Arun Budhathoki, a Nepalese writer and graduatestudent living in Fredericton.For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

In September, I returned to Fredericton to continue my education, having been away from Canada for six years.

When I looked at the rental market, I could not believe how much things have changed and also how sky-high rents are hurting the very newcomers the New Brunswick government wants to attract.

My journey from Nepal had been difficult, and I fell sick for a week. It wasn't COVID-19, thankfully. An old Canadian friend had generously picked me up from the Fredericton airport and let me stay with him as I recovered from the viral fever.

I search online for a room to rent, and to my utter disbelief I saw how prices had skyrocketed from what I encountered when I first came here, in 2013.

I asked my friend: what kind of immigrants does New Brunswick want? Is it just white-collar, cash-loaded newcomers who can afford the housing? What happens to lower-income newcomers who are captivated by the Canadian dream?

When I lived here before, during 2013-15, I paid about $300 to rent a room in a house. Of course, I understand things can change after five or six years.

A single room now rents from at least $500 and even rooms on the north side are above that. This amount may not be high in Canada, but that is a high monthly salary back in Nepal.

Early connections with a city

I should explain what took me away from Fredericton six years ago. When the news of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake hit me, my mind froze like the wintry St. John River. That year was probably the lowest in my life; later, there was a suicide in our extended family, and my parents were corralled by a political group and almost killed during the elections.

Far away from home, I was not able to digest it. A sense of responsibility troubled my conscience. When I was invited to read from my book Prisoner of an iPad: New Poems at an international book fair, I boarded a flight from Toronto and left Canada, always hoping to return.

One year's leave from the University of New Brunswick extended to four more, because of several circumstances. It was not easy for me to leave my family behind.

I feel bad to say this, but perhaps Canada is selling a fake dream to immigrants and should be honest about its housing crisis.

When I ask around about high rents, the typical answer involves COVID-19. It is also true that many folks from Ontario have moved to Fredericton during the pandemic, seeking lower house prices and the ability to work from their new homes. Realtors love this, I presume.

I wrote to my university about affordable housing, but they said they could do nothing about it, and it was the harsh reality that international students need to face.

I wrote to the City of Fredericton. A replysaid Mayor Kate Rogers has set up the Fredericton Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and developed a housing needs assessment/strategy for the city, although it also said that they had no immediate solutions.

Getting struck like a thunderbolt

Reality strikes newcomers like a thunderbolt when they realize that housing is not as affordable as thought. I had assumed that the right to housing is enshrined in the Canadian Constitution, but I have learned that this is not so.

I feel bad to say this, but perhaps Canada is selling a fake dream to immigrants and should be honest about its housing crisis.

I keep hearing that Canada needs immigrants as its population is aging. But just granting them a passage to come here might not be enough. When people do not have a roof to live under, social ills emerge. Canada needs productive and happy immigrants and not those overwhelmed by housing prices, trying to meet their ends every month.

It is the responsibility of Fredericton and its educational institutions to address the housing crisis. If not, many newcomers and even Canadians will continue to face its wrath.

There's a strong disconnect between New Brunswick's aspirations to lure immigrants and the housing market. If immigrants do not have access to proper jobs and the housing prices continue to skyrocket, I do not think any immigrant would live in New Brunswick.

Before returning to Canada, I dreamed of bringing my family here next year and raising them here.

New Brunswick is safer, quieter and cleaner than my hometown. However, I might have to reconsider that plan now.

Sometimes my mom would question my choices.

"Your younger sister is doing fine in the United States, and why do you wish to return to a cold country again?" she told me.

My response would be the same: "It is safer, and I need to finish my studies."

I always liked Canada, and I could have gone to Australia or the United States back in 2013, but I took the leap of faith and arrived in the little-known city of Fredericton.

As I aspire to plant my roots here again, dreary paths lie ahead. But taking a walk down such paths is better than staying idle.

I believe in this city, and I know there's a reason why I'm back again: to chase the Canadian dream.

However, the housing crisis might deter it yet again.