‘Give Our Fair Share’: Premiers Urge Ottawa for More Support for Hosting Asylum Seekers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters as Canada's premiers hold a press conference to close the Council of the Federation meetings in Halifax on July 17, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Darren Calabrese)

The premiers of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and New Brunswick have called for the federal government to provide them with more assistance to deal with immigrants and asylum seekers, who they say are putting strains on housing, social services, and provincial finances.

“When it comes to asylum seekers, both Quebec and Ontario bear the brunt of it. We’re just asking the federal government to give our fair share,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said during a press conference on July 17 following the premiers’ annual summer meeting.

Mr. Ford said while the city of Toronto alone had received $162 million from Ottawa in 2024 to support asylum seekers, his government spent over $1 billion on them. He said the government needed to speed up working visas for asylum seekers, “rather than sticking them in a hotel.”

“They’re really good folks, but we have to make sure we have shelter, we need homes for them, so we really need the support from the federal government,” he said.

Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters it was “not fair” that Quebec had received $750 million from the federal government in 2024 for asylum seekers, while other provinces had received no money. “I would prefer to receive less [money] in the future and have less asylum seekers,” he said.

Mr. Legault has been saying for months that his province has exceeded its capacity for asylum seekers, and asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March for full powers over immigration. On Jan. 1, 2024, Quebec was estimated to be home to 54 percent of all asylum seekers in Canada.

While Mr. Trudeau acknowledged higher levels of immigration were putting a strain on housing, health care, and education systems, he rejected Mr. Legault’s request and said the provinces needed to work together to solve those challenges.

Canada’s population has surged in recent years due to immigration, with Statistics Canada estimating in March that the country’s population had passed 41 million, less than a year after it hit 40 million. Statistics Canada has also estimated there are more than 2.6 million non-permanent residents in Canada.

Pressure

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province is in a “very similar position” to Quebec when it comes to immigration. She said while Alberta has around 12 percent of Canada’s population, it takes in 22 percent of newcomers, in particular evacuees from Ukraine.

Ms. Smith said that similar to Quebec, her province is currently “shouldering a larger burden” with its existing infrastructure. “It puts a lot of pressure on jurisdictions who are receiving more [newcomers] than their current level of social programs and infrastructure can support,” she said.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs added that all the provinces had “experienced significant population increases” in recent years, and that a balance needed to be found. “I think we’re all kind of bursting at the seams in relation to keeping up with housing; we’re getting the pushback from many citizens about the cost, the affordability, and the availability,” he said.

“There has to be some sort of recognition that we can only manage so much. We want to be compassionate and receive as many people as we possibly can, but we have to find a place for them to go when they get here.”

In January, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Ottawa would be giving an extra $362 million to provinces and municipalities to temporarily house asylum seekers, with $100 million of that funding going to Quebec. Mr. Miller said at that time that 7,300 asylum claimants needed housing and were staying in 4,000 hotel rooms across six provinces.

To ease immigration pressure, Mr. Miller also announced in March that Canada would set a “soft cap” on the number of new temporary resident arrivals when putting its immigration plan into place in the fall. Ottawa recently announced that foreign nationals with temporary status in Canada would no longer be allowed to apply for a post-graduation work permit at the border.

NATO Spending and US Relations

Prior to the meeting between premiers, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called for the federal government to increase its military spending to meet NATO’s 2 percent of GDP spending target within four years, saying it’s important for maintaining good relations with the United States in terms of national security and trade.

“We also need the federal government in this area, clearly a federal responsibility, to do their part, so that it doesn’t interfere with our economic plan at the provincial level,” he said. “We want good jobs in Manitoba. A ton of those come from trade with the U.S., and so we need to be a good NATO partner in order for that trade relationship to flourish.”

During the press conference following that meeting, Nova Scotia Premier and council chair Tim Houston said it was important for Canada to “honour our obligations on the world stage” and that he was also concerned with Canada’s relationship with the United States.

“We’re significant trading partners, and we want them to respect us fully in all aspects, including our ability to honour our obligations,” he said, adding that Mr. Kinew had discussed how a future U.S. administration might respond to Canada’s continued failure to meet its spending obligations.

“I think that’s a legitimate concern,” he said.

Following the most recent NATO Summit, the Liberal government announced it intends to meet NATO’s GDP target by 2032.