Refugees arriving in Canada deserve to be treated with dignity and require a safe roof over their heads. We are in a crisis. Toronto’s dedicated refugee shelter space is full. Toronto’s base shelter system is full. Each night, over 300 people are turned away from our shelter system and forced to find somewhere to spend the night. Over half of these people are refugees and refugee claimants. Toronto's shelter system accommodates nearly 9,000 people. Of that, more than 35 percent of the people in the system are refugees. On any given evening, upwards of 100 refugees and refugee claimants are waiting and sleeping outside the Streets to Homes Assessment and Referral Centre at 129 Peter Street. The situation is desperate. Recently, as part of her transition, Mayor Olivia Chow had the privilege of meeting with refugee serving organizations, frontline shelter workers and other civil society partners who shared information, needs and recommendations on actions for this crisis. The Mayor is grateful to the advocates for pushing all levels of Government to act. Mayor Olivia Chow, Deputy Mayor McKelvie, and Senior City Staff have worked with the Provincial and Federal Governments, as well as Mayors from across Ontario, to find immediate and longer-term solutions to address this crisis. This is just the first step in addressing this crisis. All orders of Government are continuing to work together on a long-term, sustainable plan to make sure people have dignified shelter and housing when they arrive in Toronto or anywhere else in the region. The intergovernmental tables continue and the Mayor’s conversations with the Premier’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Office are ongoing as we work together to help people find housing and supports. The Federal Government's announcement of $97 million in Interim Housing Assistance Program funding was a welcome first step, but will not meet the full needs of all refugees arriving in Toronto and across the region. It will however help provide a short term stop gap today. The City is currently incurring $157 million in costs to shelter and support the existing 3,100 refugees in the shelter system. For this to continue, the City will require additional financial support from the Federal Government. Funding is also needed to assist the increasing number of recent arrivals. We are requesting that the Federal Government develop a refugee reception area that can provide access to services when refugees arrive, which is similar to what was done for Ukrainian refugees, through the Red Cross’ First Contact program. Further, we can ensure people can access permanent housing by increasing our investment in the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, which is a rent supplement program that helps move people out of shelter and into housing. This will help open up more spaces in the shelter system as more people are securely housed. The Ontario Government has committed will match Toronto’s investment in the program, which will house approximately 1,350 households, and Mayor Olivia Chow is hopeful the Federal Government will come to the table as well.
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