Chow introduces ‘urgent motion’ on refugee housing crisis at first council meeting

New Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is moving fast to try and solve the city’s refugee shelter crisis as she gets set to take part in her first council meeting since taking office.

Chow will introduce an “urgent motion” on the refugee crisis as her first order of business on Wednesday. The new motion includes the city taking the following actions:

• The City and the province will top-up the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit with $6.67 million, a move they say will move upwards of 1,350 households into permanent housing
• Opening 250 additional shelter spaces for refugees. The City says 150 will be available immediately primarily through renewing hotel contract. An additional 100 will be identified in the coming days.
• The City will continue to work with both the federal and provincial governments to access more shelter space, staffing and funds for immediate shelter and housing. The three levels of government will continue working on a sustainable long-term plan where refugee claimants can access a welcoming space, services and housing on arrival.

Chow unveiled some other details of what she wants to do address the crisis while speaking to reporters at City Hall ahead of the meeting.

The mayor said the City wants to work with Ottawa and refugee agencies to establish a reception centre near Pearson International Airport. The centre would aim to provide a centralized location for all services needed by asylum seekers, including helping them file for refugee status and find shelter space.

“We need the federal government to step up and help us make that happen,” said Chow, flanked by 20 of the 25 city councillors. “If you’re a refugee arriving, you don’t know where to go, you don’t know where you can find help.”

“We are immediately going to put that into place and we are asking the federal government to assist us.”

Mayor Olivia Chow surrounded by the majority of city councillors to talk about initiatives for refugees pic.twitter.com/EPHHcJzylB

— Mark McAllister (@McAllister_Mark) July 19, 2023

Chow is also encouraging any land owners in the city who may have space for housing to come forward.

“Let us know if you have space,” she said. “We will find some funds to support it now that we have some encouraging news from the federal and provincial governments. We know Torontonians are generous.”

Premier Doug Ford and Chow released a joint statement on Wednesday morning calling on the federal government to do more. Specifically asking Ottawa to top-up an extra $27 million to the funds the province and city will provide to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit.

“Historically, the federal government contributes two-thirds of the cost of this program,” reads the joint statement. “While we welcome the federal government’s recent investment as a great first step, it is not enough to shelter and care for the thousands of refugees and asylum seekers that have arrived in Toronto.”

Chow began pressing the federal government for more funding when she took office last week, asking for an additional $160 million to help with the crisis. Ottawa relented to some degree on Tuesday, announcing Toronto will receive nearly $100 million to help fund housing solutions for asylum seekers.

The money for the city is part of an additional $210 million in funding from the federal government into the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP).

Ford said Tuesday the federal government owes Toronto more than the $97 million it has offered.

“The feds have to pay up,” said Ford. “This is where myself and the mayor agree 100 per cent. They owe the city of Toronto $150 million.”

“If you bring new people in, you have to step up.”

The federal government said last week that the responsibility of housing and support for asylum seekers lies with provinces and municipalities. The Ontario government has claimed Ottawa was “underfunding” the province by $480 million for housing and homelessness.

On Monday night, a growing group of more than 200 refugees were moved to a North York church for shelter after spending days living on the sidewalk outside a downtown Toronto shelter intake office. The City has been turning away refugees and asylum seekers from its at-capacity shelters since June, referring them instead to federal programs.

Advocates have issued an open letter calling for the immediate resignation of the general manager of the City of Toronto’s Shelter Support and Housing Administration (SSHA). The letter calls on Chow to fire general manager Gord Tanner if he does not resign.