At 21, Austin Lewis of Toronto lives his life in a wheelchair. Now, as Sean O’Shea reports he’s also dealing with another obstacle when it comes to getting a subsidized apartment: he has the wrong religion.
TORONTO — A disabled Toronto man had his name removed from the waiting list of a subsidized city apartment because he does not meet the main criteria for living there: being Muslim.
“It doesn’t make any sense; I lived in Texas, that doesn’t make sense even there,” said Austin Lewis, 21, who is ********* and confined to a wheelchair.
Lewis is attempting to find subsidized, rent-to-income accommodations in Toronto. He has applied to dozens of apartments through Housing Connections, an organization that manages a waiting list of applicants applying for subsidized housing.
This week, Lewis received a letter from Housing Connections, informing him he would be taken off the list for an apartment at 3001 Finch Ave. West, operated by Ahmadiyya Abode of Peace Inc.
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A Toronto woman who has been on a waitlist for a social housing unit for years claims she was discriminated against after she was denied a spot in a building reserved for members of a specific branch of Islam.
For nearly a decade, Rose Raill has been paying more than she can afford on her current apartment. But when she found out a space had opened up at a social housing building located at 3001 Finch Ave. W., she was overjoyed.
"I get a response. They had a vacancy for me so I was rather happy," Raill said.
That happiness, however, was short-lived.
Raill received a letter explaining she would not be eligible to live in that building because the social housing provider requires tenants to be a member of a specific faith.
"If none of the individuals in your household are a member of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at … you will be removed from the waiting list," the letter said.
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TORONTO — A disabled Toronto man had his name removed from the waiting list of a subsidized city apartment because he does not meet the main criteria for living there: being Muslim.
“It doesn’t make any sense; I lived in Texas, that doesn’t make sense even there,” said Austin Lewis, 21, who is ********* and confined to a wheelchair.
Lewis is attempting to find subsidized, rent-to-income accommodations in Toronto. He has applied to dozens of apartments through Housing Connections, an organization that manages a waiting list of applicants applying for subsidized housing.
This week, Lewis received a letter from Housing Connections, informing him he would be taken off the list for an apartment at 3001 Finch Ave. West, operated by Ahmadiyya Abode of Peace Inc.
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A Toronto woman who has been on a waitlist for a social housing unit for years claims she was discriminated against after she was denied a spot in a building reserved for members of a specific branch of Islam.
For nearly a decade, Rose Raill has been paying more than she can afford on her current apartment. But when she found out a space had opened up at a social housing building located at 3001 Finch Ave. W., she was overjoyed.
"I get a response. They had a vacancy for me so I was rather happy," Raill said.
That happiness, however, was short-lived.
Raill received a letter explaining she would not be eligible to live in that building because the social housing provider requires tenants to be a member of a specific faith.
"If none of the individuals in your household are a member of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at … you will be removed from the waiting list," the letter said.
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