Little recourse for parents denied rentals because of kids, says couple

When Gianisa Adisaputri and Paul Ralph were searching for a place to live back in 2019, they thought they'd found the perfect spot.

But everything changed when Adisaputri contacted the person renting the unit.

"She was like, 'Do you have a kid?' … and then she's just like, 'No we cannot rent this with you,'" said Adisaputri. 

Family status is protected under the Canadian Human Rights Act. But some advocates say the process to file a complaint against landlords for discriminating against those with children takes time and does little to help those with an urgent need to find housing. 

In Nova Scotia, the average human rights complaint takes more than two years to be completed.

Other provinces, meanwhile, have similar backlogs, with an average wait of almost 600 days in Ontario, and more than one year in British Columbia, just for a complaint to be screened. 

"If you face discrimination and that creates a problem in your life ... then you need recourse right now, not in two years," said Ralph.

Adisaputri and Ralph filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in 2019 but say it got them nowhere, even though human rights commission documents submitted to CBC News by Ralph show that a director for the company, when speaking to an officer, admitted to having a no-children policy.

"They basically ignored us for two years," he said. "And then at the end of the two years just went, 'No.'"

When the decision from the commission was issued in November 2021, the complaint was dismissed, with the couple told it raised "no significant issues of discrimination." 

Not everyone is able to file complaint

After reading an article about the struggles single moms can face finding housing, Adisaputri and Ralph decided to share their story. 

The couple, who now have stable housing and each teach at local universities, say they spoke out because others may not be able to.

The most common human rights complaints relate to employment, with few housing complaints, but some experts say this doesn't mean that discrimination isn't happening in this area. 

"When it takes so long for a human rights commission …  to deal with a complaint, and you're dealing with tenants who are in the process of looking for housing, they don't have a lot of time to spend starting a legal process," said Lee Webb, a lawyer with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. "They'd much rather find another place to stay."

For Mallory Gunn, who ran into similar issues but declined to pursue a complaint, her urgent need to find housing eclipsed everything else.

"I had to focus on getting a place," she said. "I just didn't have time. I have two kids. I really just need to focus on that."

After a long search, Gunn found a place to live earlier this month.

But even though she didn't feel able to make a complaint as she scrambled to find housing, she urges others to do so if they can.

"If we all just come together and stand up and have a voice … and support each other, hopefully this can turn around." 

In an email, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission declined to comment on Adisaputri and Ralph's case and the complaints process. 

"Unless a matter is sent to a public hearing [board of inquiry] the commission cannot confirm or deny that a complaint was filed," an official said. 

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