Chow calls on feds to restore funding for refugee shelter program as city faces $107M shortfall

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is calling on the federal government to reverse a funding decision she says will hinder the city's ability to shelter refugees and asylum seekers.

In a letter sent to council members Wednesday, Chow said the city will have to come up with an additional $107 million this year to continue to provide emergency shelter to refugee claimants at its current level, after the federal government offered just 26 per cent of the funding the city requested through the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) for 2025.

The federal program has been the main source of funding for Toronto's refugee response in recent years, reimbursing 95 per cent of the city's expenses.

"As you know, providing safe shelter for refugee claimants is a federal responsibility and the city and province cannot shoulder the cost," Chow wrote.

Chow urged councillors to "get the message out that the federal government must not walk away from their responsibility to provide the funds to do so."

At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Chow said the city is a tough spot because it has already spent most of its IHAP funding for 2025, with the expectation that funding levels would remain the same.

"We've already spent the money, we're not going to say to the refugees; 'You need to leave now.' We can't do that," she said.

Chow reiterated that she believes it is a federal responsibility to provide shelter for refugees and asylum seekers to help them resettle in Canada.

"We are not the immigration department. It is our moral responsibility, but not our legislative responsibility to make sure the refugees are settled."

WATCH | Asylum seekers in Toronto forced to sleep on sidewalk in 2023:

Volunteer groups in Toronto stepped in to find shelters for dozens of asylum seekers who were forced to camp on a sidewalk because of a dispute between the city, the province of Ontario and the federal government over who would pay to house them. The city said it could no longer cope with the high number of claimants hoping to access a bed.

In a statement, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said there was "significant interest" in the Interim Housing Assistance Program in recent years and that funding requests exceeded the amount allocated to it.

"Grant amounts were largely based on the information applicants provided about their demonstrated need, cost-effectiveness, and the expected results of their projects," the statement reads.

Going forward, the new IHAP model focuses on "cost-effective, sustainable solutions and long-term capacity building across Canada," IRCC said.

"These include building reception centres and providing sustainable temporary housing solutions. This shift will reduce costs to Canadians and improve outcomes for claimants."

A briefing note to councillors sent last week says the grant the IRCC is offering for the next two years represents only 39 per cent of what the city is projected to spend to shelter refugee claimants over that same time period.

That would leave the city with a shortfall of $107 million for 2025 alone, which represents about 1,800 beds across the shelter system, the briefing note says.

It also says that as of Aug. 8, 3,528 refugee claimants were living in the city's shelter system, which makes up about 40 per cent of the total number of shelter clients.

"It is not possible for the city to immediately stop providing shelter to refugee claimants already in the system and to those claimants who are homeless," the note says.

To address the funding gap, the city will have to stop or delay its plans to establish 250 more spaces in refugee houses and shelters, as well as plans for an enhanced case management program tailored to refugees.

"Additionally, lack of funding will mean refugee claimants placed in the base shelter system will stay there longer," the briefing note says.

This week, Ontario's Big City Mayors also called on the federal government to reverse recent changes to the Interim Housing Assistance Program, asking Ottawa to maintain its commitment to reimburse 95 per cent of municipalities expenses to provide shelter and housing supports for refugee claimants.