Asian Heritage Month: Moving Forward by Looking Back

In North America, the month of May is Asian Heritage Month. Here in Canada, it’s an opportunity to learn and reflect on the contributions of Asian Canadians throughout the country.

We’ve come a long way towards diversity, equity and inclusion since the days of Japanese internment during WWII and the Komagata Maru incident, but there are still racist stereotypes, cultural tropes and common misconceptions that exist in some shape or form.

The real estate sector is no exception. 

Anti-Asian sentiment and Metro Vancouver’s housing crisis

In 2018, a British Columbia Asian realtor received a racist, threatening email. Letter that blamed Asians for Metro Vancouver’s housing crisis.

CTV News reported on the situation. “open letter to all Asian realtors” was sent to Winnie Wu’s realty office in Coquitlam:

Source: CTVnews.ca

This anti-Asian feeling only seemed to worsen when the pandemic hit.

Sonia Wang is the managing broker at 1NE Collective Realty. She has lived in Canada for over 20 years, having first moved here in 1998 after studying in America. She shares with us her experience of this turbulent time. 

“Something that was surprising to some was that during the pandemic, even with the travel restrictions, the market was going crazier than ever,”Says Wang “We saw it was mostly local Canadians that were buying and not actually foreigners, because no foreigners could even travel.”

Ryan Zhang, managing brokerage at YouLive Realty provides some additional insights into the current post pandemic market.

“We use an online tool to summarize and categorize our data,” Zhang explains. “We see that many of our clients are newcomers; they’re either looking for a home for themselves or they’re seeking a career in real estate to help them get knowledge on the industry. About 70 to 80 per cent of our clientele are buying a home for themselves.”

Misconception: ‘Asian doesn’t mean it’s only a certain group or ethnic background’

Statistics Canada has projected that Asian immigrants will account for between 55.7 and 56.9% of all immigrants in Canada by 2036. It is now critical for the industry to dismantle the misrepresentations made about what being an Asian real estate agent, home buyer, or seller means here in Canada.

“Super rich influencers you’ve seen, even some of them are realtors, on social media floating about their luxury lifestyle, cocktail parties, supercar shows … these are bad influences,”Notes Zhang “That’s not like most of the people we work with — the majority are hardworking people.”

Another misconception? Another misconception?

Both Zhang and Wang have diverse teams at their brokerages, with members from the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam and India — as well as Canadian-born realtors.

“It actually brings out different kinds of perspectives, which is a good thing for us to learn (from) because of cultural diversity,”Shares Wang “Asian doesn’t mean it’s only a certain group or ethnic background.”

Bridging the cultural gap is part of the solution.

The theme of Asian Heritage Month for 2024 is “Advancing Leaders Through Innovation”, along with the already highly-competitive nature of Vancouver’s market, there are opportunities for all real estate professionals to elevate the industry for the better.

Zhang believes that one part of the answer is to bridge the gap between cultures. 

“What I’ve observed with some Asian cultures is it’s more well-rounded, whereas Western culture seems very straightforward. So we kind of have to bridge them in the middle and find out the best way to help our immigrant clients settle into their homes.”

Wang is also optimistic about future opportunities for Asian professionals, particularly women, in the real estate industry.

“Back in Asia, there were so many limitations that were put on female professionals — the glass ceiling, things like that,”She adds. “But Canadian culture is more open and accepting of diversity, either ethnic background-wise or gender-wise. So you have that capacity to explore and do things that you want.”

As a woman of Asian descent (my maiden surname is Barroso), I am delighted by the success of women in the real estate industry, and hopeful about the future of Asian-Canadians, whether they are immigrants or natives of Canada. 

Photo source: Canada.ca