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Catholic Social Services (CSS) leveraged the power of soccer to try to break down barriers between property managers, immigrants and refugees with the hope of expanding housing options for its clients amid a shrinking, and increasingly expensive rental market.
“Just seeing the trends of how hard it is to find affordable and available units, we were thinking, ‘OK, so how can we really clarify some of the challenges into a way that can open things up for our clients,’” said Sharon Yeo, director of immigration and settled services with CSS.
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On Wednesday afternoon, the Alberta Avenue Community Centre was abuzz with a mixture of property managers and CSS clients, which are comprised of both refugees and immigrants. CSS organized the event to bring together two groups who might otherwise be on opposing sides for the mutual enjoyment of the beautiful game of soccer (or football), and to build some social bridges.
As Edmonton’s housing market continues to soar, Yeo said it’s had a noticeable effect on efforts by CSS to find housing for its clients. CSS has provided supportive social services in Alberta for families, newcomers and people with disabilities for more than 60 years.
“We know things are getting more expensive,” said Yeo.
Rent prices have been going up in the city over the past several years, with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showing an increase in total average rent to $1,271 in 2023 from $1,194 per month in October 2022. While the data hasn’t been released on the city’s 2024 rental market, if the price of buying a home is any indicator, the cost will continue to rise.
Yeo said rental vacancy rates are also down, meaning there are fewer affordable options for renters, which adds more barriers to finding housing for refugees and immigrants who already face other hurdles in trying to attain rental housing.
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As newcomers arrive, some may lack a Canadian credit history, others might not have local rental references, or their source of income may not be as high as others.
“They have good intentions to pay their rent every month, and will do everything they can in their power to do so,” she said.
“We are at the will of individual folks that are looking at those applications.”
There were roughly 30 property managers at Wednesday’s event, comprised of a mixture of property management companies and private landlords that CSS worked with in the past. Yeo hoped that fostering the connections between the property managers and the newcomers would help create a better relationship between the two.
The idea for the event to be centred around a soccer game came from Yeo’s colleagues at CSS.
International football’s governing body, FIFA, reportedly has more member nations than the United Nations, which has sometimes given the sport the nickname of the “world’s game.” As such, it’s perhaps no surprise that of the many nationalities represented in CSS, soccer had a large presence in most of them, which made it a natural choice for Wednesday’s event.
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“Soccer is huge in their countries, and so we wanted to make sure that it was a sport that is sort of universally loved. And so it made sense that it was soccer,” said Yeo.
It was the first event of its kind hosted by CSS, but Yeo hopes that it will start to build a foundation that the organization could expand on.
While some jumped into a game in the gymnasium, several others sat and talked around the lunch tables.
“I think the the outcome again is that if we can find more properties that will house our clients, that will be a win for everybody.”
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