Independent household formation: disparities in the housing behaviours of ethno-racial groups in Canada and the United States

In both Canada and the United States, immigrants often experience different residential outcomes than non-immigrants. Previous research often attributes these differences to differential treatment in either the labour market or the housing market. We adopt a unique approach in this paper, comparing the behavior of racial groups in Canada and the United States, two countries with large non-white immigrant populations, and distinct housing and labour markets. We examine the role that factors such as immigration status, ethnic group, and housing costs play in differentiating the housing careers of White, South Asian, Black, Latin American, Filipino, and Chinese immigrants from their White native-born counterparts. We find that immigrants often converge upon the native-born in both countries, and that the differences between countries are not nearly as stark as the differences between groups.