Housing Challenges, Barriers, and Realities Among 2SLGBTQI People in Canada: A Literature Review

The literature on 2SLGBTQI people’s housing experiences suggests that they experience multi-level housing access barriers, ranging from individual discriminatory attitudes and behaviours to structural/systemic issues like discriminatory mortgage lending practices and widespread gentrification.

Further, various factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cost of living have rendered housing unaffordable, especially in urban centres where many 2SLGBTQI people tend to live. This is especially concerning because 2SLGBTQI people tend to have lower incomes compared to cisgender heterosexual people, with greater income disparities experienced by Indigenous and racialized 2SLGBTQI folks as well as gender diverse people. 2SLGBTQI people face discrimination when renting, buying a house, and during the mortgage lending process. They also encounter discrimination from staff and other residents in congregate settings such as refugee shelters, emergency shelters, and long-term care facilities.