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Toronto mayor says city doesn’t have room for more refugees in its shelters

John Tory is pleading for financial help from the federal government.

Toronto can’t accommodate any more asylum seekers in its shelter system without financial assistance from the Ontario and federal governments, Mayor John Tory warned in a press conference Tuesday morning, the latest in a series of urgent pleas for help.

There are currently more than 3,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the city’s shelter system, said Tory, which represents nearly half of all people in Toronto’s shelters.

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Over 600 people, including more than 200 children, are staying in student residences at Centennial College and Humber College arranged by the Ontario government. One of the dorms is full, while the other is expected to fill up soon, bringing the total number of people staying at the residences to 800.

But the residences will have to be empty by August 9, before students come back to school, and the city doesn’t have the resources to accommodate the 800 people staying there, according to a report being considered by City Council today from interim City Manager Giuliana Carbone.

Tory is asking the federal government to send the city $64.5-million, which, for now at least, is the projected cost of housing the refugee claimants since 2017.

“Relocating just this population of 800, and that's aside from those who may continue to arrive in Toronto… would require the emergency closures, for example, of multiple community centers across the city and the cancellation of public programming in those community centres – a step the city is not prepared to take,” Tory told reporters at city hall.

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Since 2016, thousands of asylum seekers have crossed from the United States into Canada on foot through Lacolle, Quebec, largely motivated by policies emanating from President Donald Trump's administration. While many have stayed in Montreal, many English-speaking asylum seekers have made their way to Toronto.

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The report urges the federal and provincial governments to open more shelter sites for refugees and asylum seekers, and to find places for them to live and work outside of Toronto.

Tory is also inviting members of parliament and ministers to visit one of the student dormitories or hotels being rented out by refugee agencies so they can see first hand what the city is up against.

If the Ontario and federal governments can’t provide this “immediate relief,” Toronto won’t be able to accommodate new arrivals, Tory said, comparing the situation to that of Montreal — in April, Quebec officials announced that they couldn’t accept any more refugee claimants into the city’s shelters.

"In a way even more important than money … [is] a genuine sharing of the responsibility of housing these individuals admitted to Canada."

“We need other levels of government to step up and assist Toronto in a true partnership, and I would say that the primary leadership and partnership role in that regard rests with the Government of Canada,” said Tory.

Earlier this month, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced that Ottawa would pledge $50 million in “initial funds” for provinces to cope with asylum seekers, including $11 million for Ontario and $36 million for Quebec — much less than the $146 million that the province has asked to be reimbursed for. Hussen stressed, however, that this was “initial help for immediate needs to meet the requirements for temporary housing shelter capacity this summer” and by “no means a final payment.”

Tory also pointed out during the press conference that there have been no details on where the money will be directed.

“In a way even more important than money, while some degree of shared financial responsibility is fair and essential, a genuine sharing of the responsibility of housing these individuals admitted to Canada is, in our opinion, also fair and sensible,” he said.

Cover image: Mayor John Tory stands in front of the media in Toronto on Tuesday April 18, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young