Landlords were friendly when Maria Fernanda Lopez’s husband spoke to them on the phone. But their demeanours changed when they met in person
Pedro Fonseca, a 43-year-old asylum seeker from Colombia, says if he doesn’t start receiving social assistance from the Quebec government soon, he’ll likely become homeless.“I am trying to be optimistic, but it’s very stressful,” Fonseca said in Spanish during a recent interview at his home in Montreal’s Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie borough.
Melissa Claisse, from the Montreal-based Welcome Collective, a local organization that assists refugee claimants, said asylum seekers face enormous difficulties finding apartments. At the shelter, Fonseca was assigned to a room with three other men and told by officials he needed to find housing within seven days because he arrived in Canada with too much money – US$2,400. He said he filed his Quebec social assistance paperwork and is waiting for a reply.
“He told me that I needed to be open-minded for this arrangement … and propositioned sex in exchange for a place to live,” Fonseca said.Maria Fernanda Lopez, 43, also from Colombia, said her family had an easier time finding a home in Montreal compared to many other refugees they know. She said her husband’s fluency in French helped.
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