“We know that Torontonians are generous. We know that together we can be welcoming for refugee claimants so they have dignity, so they don’t have to sleep on the street in the middle of a rainstorm,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said.
For several weeks, upwards of 100 refugees and asylum seekers—the majority from African countries—have been forced to camp out on the sidewalk outside a shelter in Toronto, as the city’s shelter system struggles to deal with a 500-percent increase in the number of asylum seekers within the last 20 months.
On July 19, city council unanimously approved a plan, brought forward by Ms. Chow, to address the growing need for shelter for refugees and asylum seekers. The measures included spending $6.67 million in 2023 to expand a rent supplement program for the city’s homeless, which will be matched by the provincial government.
Ms. Chow said the money would help to provide permanent housing for more than 1,350 households, in turn freeing up space in the city’s overcrowded shelter system. Toronto’s shelter system, which has approximately 9,000 spaces, is full most nights.
The plan also calls on the federal government to open a reception area near Pearson International Airport to connect refugees with services.
Also on July 19, Ms. Chow and Ontario Premier Doug Ford requested in a joint statement that the federal government take further action to assist refugees and asylum seekers. They asked for Ottawa to put an extra $26.7 million toward a rent subsidy program—as the federal government has historically contributed two-thirds of the cost to the program—as well as assist in helping newcomers process applications and find work.
The previous day, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced the federal government would be providing an additional $210 million to fund interim housing for asylum seekers and refugees across Canada, with $97 million of it allocated to Toronto. He said the money would “more than cover the cost” of interim housing for the refugees. This is in addition to the almost $700 million the federal government already provided through the program since 2017.
During the announcement, Mr. Fraser also called on Ontario and municipalities to build strategies to support asylum seekers in their housing plans.
