Toronto asylum seekers moved to North York churches as feds boost funding for shelter support

Mayor Olivia Chow welcomes $97M in funding but says it ‘will not meet the needs’ of refugees in Toronto

Some 200 refugee claimants and asylum seekers who had been living on the street in downtown Toronto are now staying at two churches in North York, while the federal government has committed another $97 million to help the city house an influx of newcomers.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Tuesday the money for Toronto is part of a one-time injection of $212 million into the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) that will last until March 31, 2024. IHAP works on a cost-sharing basis with municipalities and provinces to provide temporary housing to asylum claimants.

“Our modelling demonstrates this should more than cover the cost of interim housing for the people who are currently being denied access to the shelter system by the City of Toronto,” Fraser said.

The new money comes after the federal government faced growing calls from the city and advocacy groups to help cover the increasing costs of housing newcomers to Canada who have been denied access to Toronto’s overwhelmed shelter system.

Toronto has been turning away asylum seekers from shelters since the beginning of June and referring them to federal programs after the number of asylum seekers in its shelter system grew by 500 per cent in 20 months, according to city officials.

However, many asylum seekers can’t get federal help if their claims haven’t been fully granted, leaving dozens of them stuck in limbo with nowhere to sleep.

Mayor Olivia Chow on Tuesday called the federal government’s contribution a “welcome first step” but said it’s not enough to solve the problem. Chow said senior staff from all levels of government met Tuesday afternoon to discuss “tangible solutions for shelter space and personnel.”

“While we appreciate today’s announcement, it will not meet the needs of refugees arriving in Toronto and across the region,” Chow said in a statement.

“It may however provide a short-term stop gap.”

Chow had previously asked for the federal government to cover the $157 million Toronto is spending for existing refugee claimant shelter spaces.

The shelter system operates at full capacity most nights. Of the 9,000 people who rely on the system, about 35 per cent are refugees, according to city staff.

Many of those unable to access shelters in recent weeks have, at times, camped outside a city shelter referral office on Peter Street in the downtown core.

Hundreds bused to North York churches

On Monday night, several mostly Black-led community organizations and and faith groups organized buses to transfer hundreds of the asylum seekers to two churches — Revivaltime Tabernacle on Dufferin Street and Dominion Church International on Shepherd Avenue.

Pastor Judith James of Revivaltime Tabernacle said the men now being sheltered at her church are staying in the facility’s gymnasium, while women — including some who are pregnant — were put into two large rooms.

All of the refugees and asylum seekers were given an opportunity to shower, James said, and provided with food. Nurses were on site to provide medical care to anyone in need.

James stressed that the church and a small number of non-profits currently paying to house the refugees and asylum seekers cannot do so for long without more help.

“We are going to try to do it for as long as we can, but this is a very temporary solution for a very big problem,” James said in an interview.

“We are in need of great help.”

Patrice Bigirmana has been sleeping outside since he arrived in Canada a month ago from Burundi and is now staying at the church. 

“Now, we have shelter. It’s very good,” he said in an interview. “We sleep, take a shower. When we need to wash our clothes, it will be good.”

Bigirmana said he’s hoping to get a work permit soon so he can work and start earning money.

A handful of people were still staying outside the shelter intake on Peter Street Tuesday. They told CBC Toronto they chose to stay because they have meetings with immigration lawyers downtown.

Toronto city manager Paul Johnson said in a statement this week that while the city has funding to support 500 newcomers in the system, it is using reserve funds to cover costs of sheltering more than 3,000 people.

“The fact remains that the city does not have additional space and currently has no means to expand the system to keep up with the surging demand for shelter space,” he said.

Chow, Trudeau agree to work together

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said later Tuesday that he and Chow met and agreed “to work together to improve access to affordable housing and enhance refugee support and resettlement efforts in Toronto.”

Trudeau’s office said the two look forward to continued co-operation with each other and Ontario.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called on the federal government earlier Tuesday to give Toronto the $157 million Chow had asked for.

“If you bring new people in — I’ve been encouraging them, by the way, to bring new people in, because we need to fill 300,000 jobs — you have to step up,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in the Niagara Region.

He also said he wants to see the federal government speed up the issuance of work permits.

“Shelters are number one, working permits are number two,” he said. “I’m going to be all over the federal government to make sure that they get these people back on their feet.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark said Ontario has increased funding for its homelessness prevention programs by $202 million this fiscal year.

The province has also increased spending on the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit (COHB), which helps low-income households with rental housing costs, from $48.1 million in 2021-22 to $148.6 million in 2023-24, the statement said.

The extra funding for the COHB will allow another 3,750 households to enrol this year, in addition to the approximately 17,500 households currently participating, the ministry estimates.

Municipalities ‘can no longer keep up,’ mayors say 

In his comments, Fraser drew a distinction between refugees who come into Canada through federal programs and receive housing support, and asylum seekers who find their way here outside of official channels. He called on provinces and municipalities to “build in adequate plans into their housing strategies to address the needs of people who seek asylum in Canada.”

Municipal leaders in Ontario, however, say they lack the capacity to support newcomers without long-term funding.

Ontario’s Big City Mayors, an organization that includes the mayors of 29 cities with a population 100,000 or more, said in a statement the new federal funding announced on Tuesday isn’t enough to address “systemic capacity issues” municipalities across the province are facing.

“Municipal leaders are operating with a nineteenth century revenue system to respond to twenty-first century responsibilities,” the statement said.

“This most recent influx of refugees has dramatically increased pressure on a system that is already over capacity, and despite best efforts, municipalities can no longer keep up with the demand.”

The organization called for a new funding model to address the need for emergency housing and other supports for refugees. It also demanded to be consulted on immigration targets, including for international students, and on the money and supports necessary to support newcomers when they arrive.

-The Canadian Press