P.E.I.'s housing crisis forces Syrian refugees into cramped quarters

A group which sponsors refugees to come to P.E.I. is scrambling to find a home for a Syrian family on their way to Charlottetown.

The couple and their 19-month-old child are flying from Jordan and will join members of their family already on the Island.

But due to a record-low vacancy rate in Charlottetown, the sponsors have not found a home for the new family. 

"When we first started this I don't think the vacancy rate was quite as bad as it is now," said Rosemary Henderson, chair of the Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Group.  

We've been incredibly fortunate with the families that we have brought in to date. Maybe our luck is running out.— Rosemary Henderson, Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Group

Until a home can be found, the family will stay in a crowded three-bedroom apartment in Charlottetown that will house four adults and four children — including the newcomers. 

It can take months, even years, to finalize a sponsorship. Henderson said part of the reason for the scramble is that the group only had two weeks' notice of the family's arrival.

"We didn't have enough money to just rent an apartment at some point hoping that they would come soon," said Henderson.

"Now we're looking around for an apartment and we certainly don't have anything for August but hoping perhaps we'll find something for September."

The latest family is the fifth family that the Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Group has sponsored.

The group was formed in reaction to the Syrian civil war. It had aimed to bring just a couple of families to P.E.I., but was overwhelmed with more than $100,000 in donations.

Now, the funding has run out and the family arriving next week will be the group's last sponsorship. 

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