Canada Offers Toronto C$97 Million to Shelter Asylum Seekers

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian authorities, below strain over pictures displaying asylum seekers sleeping on the streets of Toronto, on Tuesday stated it will give the town an additional C$97 million ($73.6 million) to assist meet the demand for housing.

The cash is a part of a C$212 million ($160.9 million) one-time injection to assist main cities take care of rising numbers of arrivals flowing from america and elsewhere, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser stated in a press release.

The federal authorities of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has accountability for refugees and asylum seekers, prides itself on its file of accepting these fleeing oppression even because it tries to tighten its border with america. However Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolis, says Ottawa has not supplied anyplace close to sufficient cash to maintain shelters open.

“These individuals are left homeless and residing on the kindness of strangers who give them meals, water, sleeping baggage, and a few clothes, as they attempt to survive within the warmth and rain,” metropolis legislator Kevin Vuong wrote to Trudeau final week.

In response, Fraser stated in his assertion that federal authorities had over 3,800 lodge rooms in six provinces to offer momentary housing to asylum claimants as of early July.

On the finish of 2022, Canada had greater than 70,000 pending refugee claims. Nearly 40,000 asylum seekers entered Canada by irregular border crossings from america final 12 months — 9 occasions greater than in 2021 when COVID-19 associated restrictions had been enforced.

In March, america and Canada modified a two-decade-old refugee settlement as a part of an makes an attempt to cut back the inflow internationally’s largest land border. The Quebec authorities says the rise is straining its capability to deal with folks and supply fundamental providers.

($1 = 1.3175 Canadian {dollars})

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; modifying by Susan Heavey)

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