Housing And Social Services -- A 'Nightmare' For Some Immigrants

"In a place where a teeny inner-city bungalow is listed for $400,000, almost every prospective homeowner is priced out of Calgary's surging real-estate market. But the housing crunch is even more acute -- and can be even more devastating -- for those who are also trying to adjust to life in Canada.

'The cost of housing has been increasing steadily,' says Hadassah Ksienski, chief executive officer of the Calgary Immigrant Aid Society. 'Affordable housing is limited to the suburbs.'

While the suburban lifestyle is the dream for many Canadians, for newcomers to Calgary it can be a nightmare. The services they need are far from where they live.

Skills upgrading and language-training programs they need in order to land jobs here are overwhelmingly located downtown, Ms. Ksienski says. The city's light-rail transit system, which is free downtown, is a help for those struggling to make ends meet. But public transit outside the core comes at a cost, and the routes haven't kept up in a place that has developed a reputation as a city of suburbs that caters to a car culture."