Ottawa Gives $212M Funding Boost for Housing Asylum Seekers

Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser speaks at a news conference highlighting the government's inflation relief efforts for those hardest hit by rising food prices, in Calgary, April 3, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

The federal government is announcing $212 million more in funding for interim housing for people claiming asylum in Canada, including about $97 million for Toronto.

The city has been seeing asylum seekers and refugee claimants sleeping on the sidewalks, unable to get a space in Toronto’s overwhelmed shelter system.

A church in Toronto is now reportedly housing them temporarily.

Officials have said that the number of asylum seekers in Toronto’s shelter system grew by 500 per cent in 20 months and the city has had to turn them away from at-capacity shelters toward federal programs.

Mayor Olivia Chow has asked for Ottawa to cover the $157 million Toronto is spending for existing refugee shelter spaces, and support with additional housing, shelter space and personnel.

Sean Fraser, the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship announced the new funding today, saying it will ensure Toronto and other cities can keep a roof over the heads of people fleeing violence, war and persecution.