Race and tenure in Toronto

The analysis of a number of Toronto sub-populations consistently points to differences in the home-ownership rates between visible minorities and whites. People of African or Caribbean origin have a much lower chance of being home-owners compared to whites after controlling for differences in income levels, housing preferences and household characteristics. Differences in tenure profiles are reduced at higher income levels but the home-ownership deficit remains. Economic factors explain only a small part of the large difference. Cultural and institutional factors may determine how the tenure options are perceived and valued by different groups of people living in the same city. Biases in perceptions matter as they affect the extent to which people can gain from the direct and indirect subsidies offered to home-owners. The differences may be indicative of underlying problems some minorities face in gaining access to urban resources. Measures of home-ownership deficits among the black and Caribbean suggest the need for social policy that goes beyond income maintenance and housing subsidies groups to help equalise their social and economic opportunities.