Toronto to receive $162M federal top-up for sheltering asylum seekers, low-income renters
The federal government will provide $162 million in new funding to the city of Toronto to help cover the cost of housing thousands of asylum seekers and to help low-income people pay rent, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Friday.
Freeland made the announcement at a settlement agency in North York alongside Mayor Olivia Chow and a group of Toronto MPs. A total of $143 million of that amount will help reimburse costs incurred by the city last year and in the first quarter of 2024 to shelter refugee claimants in city homeless shelters, according to a news release.
That money represents Toronto’s share of a larger $362 million top-up to the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) announced earlier this week, following pressure from Quebec and cities that are struggling to cope with the costs of housing an influx of newcomers.
Freeland said Toronto would also receive an additional $19.75 million through the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, which helps low-income people cover rent payments.
“More newcomers will have a safe and stable place to call home while they get settled in Canada,” Freeland said. “This additional support is going to help the most vulnerable people pay their rent every month.”
Since last summer, the federal government has faced growing calls from the city to help cover the increasing costs of housing asylum seekers in city homeless shelters. Dozens of asylum seekers were sleeping on the streets or being housed in churches as the shelter system reached capacity, turning away hundreds of people each night.
Chow confirms no additional tax hike to cover shelter costs
Toronto has been demanding more than $250 million to cover operating costs in its shelters, with the city’s budget chief previously warning that property taxes would need to be raised by an additional six per cent — on top of an already historic 9.5 per cent increase planned for 2024 — if the federal government didn’t come through with more cash.
On Friday, Chow said an additional tax hike was no longer necessary because the federal government had “fully delivered on what we asked for.”
Chow thanked Freeland for the support, saying the housing benefit will help 2,000 people find permanent housing by subsidizing their rent payments, which in turn will open up more spaces in the city’s at-capacity shelter system.
“They want to cook their own food. They want to have their own place to stay. They want independence,” Chow said. “And it’s hard to do that when you’re in a shelter.”
Chow said Thursday the city is currently housing around 6,000 asylum seekers and refugees in its shelters, accounting for more than half of its shelter population.
The federal government previously announced a $97 million boost in funding in July and the province said it would provide $600 million over three years as part of its “new deal” with the city, contingent on federal funding.
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