A Canadian tarot consultant, Caroline Ironwill, shared a troubling experience: she alleges she was denied rental of an apartment because she wasn’t Gujarati Indian.

Posting on social media platform Threads, she explained that the rejection was explicitly about her not being Gujarati, and she even has it in writing. She hinted that Canada’s housing crisis partly stems from such biased rental behaviour accusing some Indians of buying homes and then discriminating against non-Indians.

Her post ignited discussions online. Some agreed, saying such exclusionary practices are unfortunately familiar. One user wrote that they encountered landlords who refused to rent to "white people or non-Indian people." Yet, others raised doubts suggesting alternate motives or demanding proof. “If it happened, prove it and sue,” one comment read.

This incident echoes broader concerns within diaspora communities. Indian-origin women in Canada recently criticized rental ads specifying preferences for caste, religion, or cooking habits like “only Gujarati girl” or “vegetarian preferred” actions that flout Canadian anti-discrimination laws.

The story reveals a painful paradox: within multicultural societies, sometimes cultural insularity leads to exclusion erasing the warmth these communities themselves once sought. Canada prides itself on diversity, yet when old biases ride along with migration, they disrupt the very values of fairness it upholds.