As Canada continues to admit asylum seekers in droves, the federal government is funnelling $362.4M into its Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP).
Immigration Minister Marc Miller pledged the funding at an impromptu press conference on Wednesday afternoon, at which time he confirmed that Quebec will be receiving $100M of the funding. He did not specify how the rest of the funds will be allocated, but said that a further breakdown of the funds will be announced in the coming days.
When pressed by reporters on how much will go to Toronto specifically, Miller only said that the city will get a “significant amount.”
“People around the world continue to face crises that cause them to flee their homelands, and Canada is one of many countries experiencing a significant rise in the number of people taking a life-changing step of seeking refuge at our borders,” said Miller.
“Through the Interim Housing Assistance Program, we've been providing funding to provincial and municipal governments on a cost-sharing basis to help alleviate housing pressures and increased capacity to meet the rise of asylum claimants.”
The IHAP is designed to take some of the cost pressure associated with supporting refugee claimants off of individual cities and provinces, and Quebec has been hit particularly hard. Toronto too has struggled to support its growing refugee population amidst its $1.8B operating shortfall.
As such, Wednesday’s announcement comes on the heels of separate pleas from the governments of Toronto and Quebec for the feds to step up their support for refugee claimants.
In particular, Toronto called on the feds to deliver $250M earlier this month, and Mayor Olivia Chow warned that the city could face a residential property tax hike as high as 16.5% if the feds fail to cough up the funds. The hike has been proposed at 10.5% as part of the city’s 2024 budget, however, there have been reports that Chow is going to push for a lower increase when she meets with the Budget Committee later today.
Whether or not Wednesday’s funding announcement has been factored into Chow's proposed tax hike is yet to be confirmed.
