Asylum seekers who stay in hotels financed by the federal government will soon have to visit immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada (IRCC) says that financing will end in September.
An IRCC spokesman told CBC News by email that until Thursday, the federal government housed 485 asylum seekers in five hotels in Ontario and Quebec, noting that it has spent approximately $ 1.1 billion in Hotel Hotel Hotel for Asylum applicants since 2020.
“This measure was never intended to be permanent, and IRCC is financed to continue hotel operations only until September 30, 2025,” said email.
Ottawa has provided funds so that asylum seekers are in hotels throughout Canada since at least 2018. Federal officials have said that this system was always destined to be a stop measure to deal with historical waves in migration.
Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that plans to renew the obsolete asylum system of Canada have been canceled, and proposed border laws will probably make it more difficult to claim asylum. IRCC says that it will help those who are still in hotels to find homes, but experts and defenders say it could be a difficult task in cities with high demand and low supply.
Municipal shelters are constantly full, according to Adoma Patterson, Community Investment Director at United Way Greater Toronto. While some additional capacity has been added in the form of a dedicated refuge for asylum claimants in Peel, she says that more must be done to avoid overloading a shelter system already stressed.
“I think the municipalities are doing everything possible. But shelters take a long time to build. Therefore, it is not something that can happen overnight,” said Patterson.
The shortage of affordable homes also makes it difficult for asylum seekers, who sometimes find problems to find the owners willing to rent them, he said, adding that some could end on the street or in unsafe conditions due to overcrowding.
“Anyone who is not in a safe and stable home is always the risk of their health being committed. And then, in extreme cases, someone may die of someone,” he said.
Number of asylum applicants in decline: IRCC
More than 15,000 asylum claimants who were previously in hotels have now made the transition to an independent life, IRCC said in their email to CBC News.
The department says it will help the 485 people left in hotels to find long -term homes before the program ends on September 30. He said he will support people on the site while looking for long -term housing, and that he will continue “supporting the provinces and municipalities in the development of their own long -term housing strategies.”
“While asylum volumes remain high, they are almost 40 percent lower than last year,” IRCC said.
CBC News asked IRCC why the volumes have decreased but have not yet received an answer.
Last year an important project was closed to ensure and renew the asylum system of Canada, an “unexpected” movement for some in the government, CBC News reported. Now, some critics fear that the results that were achieved can be more harmful than beneficial for people looking for protection in Canada.
Last year, the Federal Government canceled an IRCC project destined to renew Canada’s obsolete asylum system. The $ 68 million project intended to be an important reform after Canada began to see waves of asylum applicants entering the country, Exercise pressure on a system that is already fighting That was largely based on paper files.
Meanwhile, the proposed government Strong border law It contains new controversial measures, including changes in the Refugee Immigration and Protection Law that would force asylum seekers who enter the country to make their statements within a year.
Where will the money come from? Economist Question
Christopher Worswick, professor of economics at the University of Carleton who focuses on migration, questions whether the volume of asylum statements has really decreased that.
“Or it’s just an attempt to download it in the province,” he asked.
Worswick says housing asylum claims are an international, and expensive obligation.
He warned that while the decision to end the hotel funds may be motivated by the desire to reduce federal expenditure, it could result in transmitting costs to the provinces and municipalities that are also cash liquidity.
With these budgetary challenges and the municipal governments that lack the tax powers that can use the highest levels of government, Worswick wonders, “Where will the money come from?”
Minister Isaac Oppong has been one of the main organizers behind the continuous effort of Miracle Arena Canada to provide refuge to refugees and asylum seekers in the Metropolitan Area of Toronto. Since June, the Church has provided resources such as food and temporary housing on the land of the Church for dozens of newcomers.
Base organizations extended to limit
Community organizations have previously intervened to support asylum seekers who fell through cracks at different levels of government support. But they say they are also feeling tension.
In 2023, hundreds of asylum applicants I slept in the streets of the center of Toronto Amid a stagnation of funds between the city and the federal government. Miracle Arena for all nations, a church in Vaughan, Ontario, was one of several community groups that took a step forward to help.
Minister Isaac Oppong says that his congregation has fed and housed more than 500 asylum seekers in the land of the Church Since June 2023. He says he is concerned that finishing the hotel program without other current solutions will take people again in the streets.
“There is no place for them. There are no reused buildings or there is no other home. We will squared one like 2023,” he said.
Oppong says that its congregation supports asylum seekers on a volunteer basis and has not received any government financing. He says that it is not financially sustainable for local groups such as yours to continue supporting the influx of long -term people.
“It is bringing people to your lifeboat because you see that they are drowning,” he said. “But obviously you can’t keep them in the lifeboat. You have to take them to another place.”
