TORONTO - When Atulya Sharman moved to Toronto a year and half ago he had no idea why friends advised him to dress up and bring a resume with housing references when looking for a room to rent.
He spent two years living in Victoria after moving to Canada from his native India and never had trouble finding a place to live.
Sharman, who worked at a legal clinic, said to his surprise he faced discrimination from landlords, including one who asked if he would be cooking South Asian dishes if he moved in.
"I realized there were a lot of barriers in terms of accessing housing and the most accessible place was a rooming house,'' said Sharman. "You live with 32 people and some cockroaches.''
The barriers facing Sharman and others were at the heart of an Ontario Human Rights Commission report released Tuesday that outlines 37 recommendations for governments and decision makers aimed at preventing discrimination by landlords.
The focus is on housing as a human right.
Housing is a "critical element of an individual's overall quality of life,'' said chief commissioner Barbara Hall.
"Connecting with the community, social inclusion, a sense of self worth, employment and education all begin with adequate housing,'' she said.
The recommendations in the report -- entitled "Right at Home'' -- include a call for a housing strategy that focuses on the needs of aboriginals, minorities, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence, single parents, immigrants and those below the poverty line.
The report also recommends that the Ontario Building Code, which landlords must adhere to, be harmonized with the provincial human rights code.
In compiling the report, the commission held discussions with tenants and landlords across Ontario and also accepted online submissions.
A critical recommendation is combatting the "not in my backyard'' opposition affordable housing projects face from communities, Hall said.
"NIMBY syndrome was a prevailing theme throughout the consultations,'' said Hall.
Social housing developers often face costly extra steps in getting their projects approved because of discrimination by municipalities that view such housing as being built for "certain types of people,'' she added.
University graduate Phillip Dufresne lived on the street for a year and bounced between jobs and residences while dealing with mental health issues. He's now a part of a group that advocates accessible housing for people with mental health problems.
Dufresne said both governments and the general public don't understand homelessness and mental health, but he hopes the commission's recommendations will help change some perceptions.
"(The public) thinks we're all a bunch of child molesters and rapists,'' he said.
"They're trying to keep us out of their neighbourhoods sometimes because they don't really understand the issues.''
Vince Brescia of the Federation of Rental Housing Providers of Ontario attended the report's release and said most of the recommendations are for different levels of government to review policies and "it's unclear where those might go.''
The organization wants to work with the commission to promote human rights awareness but also might have some reservations about some of the report's contents, he added.
"For some of the recommendations I can see some of our members having some concerns,'' Brescia said.
"They want to have a reasonable right to run their building in a fair manner.''
