The majority of Somali immigrants to Canada choose to settle in Toronto. Of the approximate 70,000 Somali immigrants in Canada, roughly 23,000 reside in the Toronto area (Kusow, 2006).

The informal term for the area at Dixon Road and Islington Avenue in Etobicoke (of the Greater Toronto Area) is “Little Somalia,” as a concentrated number of Somali immigrants have clustered together in this group of apartment blocks (Magocsi, 1999). Somali communities are also located in west Toronto, north Toronto around York and North York, and east Toronto in Scarborough (Hopkins, 2006).

Somalis are among the poorest refugee groups in the city. They experience high unemployment and underemployment rates – facing obstacles such as language barriers and lack of Canadian education credentials (Danso, 2001). Such barriers are exacerbated for refugee claimants because they are less likely than other groups to receive preparatory information and governmental resources before entering the country (Danso, 2001). Group tenancy – where a number of individuals share one apartment is very common within this population. Many people of Somali heritage in Toronto live in overcrowded arrangements because of the limited supply of government-assisted and affordable housing (Opoku-Dapaah, 1995; Murdie, 2005).

References:

Danso, R. (2001). From ‘there’ to ‘here’: An investigation of the initial settlement experiences of Ethiopian and Somali refugees in Toronto. Geojournal, 55, 3-14.
Hopkins, G. (2006). Somali Community Organizations in London and Toronto: Collaboration and Effectiveness. Journal of Refugee Studies, 19, 3, 362-380.
Kusow, A.M. (2004). Putting the Cart Before the Horse: Contested Nationalism and the Crisis of the Nation-State in Somalia. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press.
Kusow, A.M. (2006). Migration and Racial Formations Among Somali Immigrants in North America. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 3, 533-551.
Magocsi, P.R. (ed.) (1999). Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press, for the Multicultural History Society of Ontario.
Murdie, R. (2005). Pathways to housing: the experiences of sponsored refugees and refugee claimants in accessing permanent housing in Toronto. Department of Geography, York University Canada.
Opoku-Dapaah, E. (1995). Somali Refugees in Toronto: A Profile. York Lane Press, Toronto.