The federal government is pledging a $362.4-million top-up to its interim housing assistance program for asylum seekers.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller made the announcement on Jan. 31, citing what he called the need to provide support that reflects the impact of asylum claims across the country.
Deeper changes are needed down the road, he added.
“This program is important because it gets shelters over people’s heads, particularly with the temperature that it is outside. But it needs reform, and that’s something that will have to be worked on ... in the coming months,” Mr. Miller said.
“I think we owe it to Canadians to reform a system that has very much been a stopgap measure since 2017 to deal with large historic flows of migration.”
Housing and support for asylum seekers are the responsibility of provincial and municipal governments, but Ottawa has offered multiple top-up payments like this one to ease the load.
As of last week, about 7,300 asylum claimants in need of housing were staying in 4,000 hotel rooms in six provinces, Mr. Miller said.
Of the new money, he said $100 million will go to Quebec.
He wouldn’t offer details on how the rest of the money will be distributed, but said Toronto will get a “significant amount.”
Mr. Miller said many asylum seekers gravitate toward big municipalities such as Montreal and Toronto, because of jobs or existing communities in such cities.
