A majority of both consumers and REALTORS® disagree that the process of home-renting is free from discrimination: 43% of REALTORS® say they’ve seen a rental deal fall through as a result of discrimination
Ipsos in Canada, on behalf of OREA’s Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, conducted qualitative and quantitative research to build an understanding of the journey and experiences of historically vulnerable populations as they navigate through the real estate and housing sectors in Ontario. Nearly 1500 consumers (recent or intending buyers/sellers/renters), including a large sample of BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ consumers, and nearly 2000 REALTORS® were surveyed. The results were instrumental in informing OREA’s Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion toward meeting the end goal of reporting to the OREA Board of Directors with concrete recommendations within the scope of the mandate on how the Association can eliminate systemic racism and improve inclusion in Ontario real estate and housing sectors.
Key survey findings include:
- Racism and discrimination exist in the housing and real estate sectors:
- Over one-third of REALTORS® have experienced discrimination or racism, and one in four BIPOC REALTORS® say that a client has refused to work with them because of their identity.
- Two in ten consumers say they’ve been treated unfairly, and BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ individuals are more likely to say this has happened to them.
- Discriminatory/racist incidents take various forms. For consumers in Ontario real estate market, the most prevalent include assumptions made about a customer’s affordability (33% BIPOC; 38% LGBTQ2S+), comments made about lifestyle based on stereotypes (29% BIPOC; 40% LGBTQ2S+), insensitive jokes based on stereotypes (24% BIPOC; 33% LGBTQ2S+), and acts of discrimination or racist remarks from neighbours or community members (25% BIPOC; 28% LGBTQ2S+). Many also faced roadblocks on the path to mortgage approval (23% BIPOC; 29% LGBTQ2S+).
- 80% of consumers do not know the appropriate entity to lodge a complaint to address an incidence of racism and discrimination and most (75%) would expect their REALTOR® to be involved in some way to resolve the issue. Other barriers to reporting an incident include difficulty proving it, not expecting change, and perceived lack of action.
- 57% of REALTORS® and three-fourths of consumer respondents support OREA advocating for stronger penalties and better enforcement against REALTORS® who discriminate and behave in racist manners while conducting business. Specifically, 47% of member respondents support OREA’s role in strengthening the REALTOR® Code of Ethics enforcement to provide Members with another avenue for dealing with racist or discriminatory behaviour among REALTORS®.
See the ‘Fighting for Fair Housing’ report from Ontario Real Estate Association’s Presidential Advisory Group here:
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos research conducted on behalf of the Ontario Real Estate Association.
The quantitative research, conducted between August 11-September 1, 2021, included two separate surveys, the first being among consumers (recent or intending buyers/sellers/renters), and another among OREA’s members/REALTORS ®.
For the consumer survey, a sample of 1297 Ontarians who have recently bought/Sold/Rented a property in the last 2 years or currently intending to buy, sell or rent in the next 2 years were interviewed. The total number of participants (including those who did not qualify or dropped out) was weighted according to Statistics Canada census data by gender, age, and region to accurately reflect the actual distribution of Ontarians. As a result, we believe that the resulting sample paints an accurate socio-demographic portrait of home buyers, sellers and renters in Ontario. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had every adult in Ontario who has recently or is intending to buy/sell/rent a home been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population.
For the survey among REALTORS ®, online e-mail invitations were sent to ~60,000 registered real estate professionals and 1974 interviews were completed. Since all of OREA’s members (as available in the membership lists) were invited to participate in the survey, this constitutes a census. As with any census, there is no associated calculation of accuracy as the results contain no sampling error.
All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. Where results do not sum to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 more/less than the actual, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't know or not stated responses.
Qualitative research was conducted in two phases. The first phase, conducted between March 4-14, 2021, comprised of online ethnographies among consumers (recent or intending buyers/sellers/renters) using the Ipsos EyeJournal tool and 12 In-Depth Interviews among REALTORS ®. The second phase, conducted between May 7-21, 2021 consisted of 12 additional In-Depth Interviews among REALTORS ®. Due to the small number of respondents, and the fact that they were not drawn at random from the population they represent, the findings from qualitative should be viewed as directional and thematic, rather than conclusive.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sanyam Sethi
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.
Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.
Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).
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