In this July 28, 2023 photo, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow tours Revivaltime Tabernacle Church, where African and Black refugees and asylum seekers had received emergency shelter, in North York, Ont.Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press
Ottawa is boosting funding to Toronto by almost $163-million, mostly for housing asylum claimants, ending a standoff with Mayor Olivia Chow about the rising cost of the city’s shelter system that included the threat of higher taxes for residents.
After weeks of delay, the federal government announced Friday that Ottawa will send $143-million to Toronto to reimburse the city for costs associated with housing asylum claimants in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
The money is in addition to $97-million provided to Toronto last summer, which covers the $200-million cost of 2023, Ms. Chow said. As part of Friday’s announcement, Ottawa also provided a “down payment” of $40-million for the first quarter of 2024, enough to cover the city’s costs until the federal government tables its budget this spring.
Ms. Chow said last month that Toronto needed at least $250-million this year to cover the rising cost of the thousands of asylum seekers in its strained emergency homeless shelter system.
If the money didn’t come through, the city had planned to add six percentage points to its proposed property tax hike in Ms. Chow’s inaugural budget. With Ottawa’s announcement on Friday, Ms. Chow said she was committing to a 9.5-per-cent increase.
The federal money is part of an additional $362.4-million for the Interim Housing Assistance Program announced by Immigration Minister Marc Miller earlier this week, with $100-million of the funds already earmarked for Quebec.
Friday’s announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Toronto MP, who appeared alongside Ms. Chow along with other federal Liberals. While it took several weeks for the agreement to come through, Ms. Freeland repeatedly expressed her support for the city.
“We believe in Toronto, we believe in working closely with this great city to build this city and to be sure that Torontonians have all the opportunities to flourish,” Ms. Freeland, a Toronto MP, told reporters.
The federal government also said Friday it is providing a $19.75-million top-up to the city’s share of the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, which gives direct financial support to low-income renters to help them cover the cost of rent. Ottawa said it will soon announce details on a national top-up to the program.
“It’s for the most vulnerable people in this city. It’s to help people seeking asylum here. It’s to help people who are really, really struggling to pay their rent,” Ms. Freeland said.
Ms. Freeland added that she was assured by the mayor that the money would be used “as efficiently and effectively as possible,” and that the federal government is working to close loopholes in the country’s immigration system, including by tightening the rules for international students.
The Finance Minister defended her government’s funding record, saying Ottawa has delivered billions in support since 2015, more than any other government. “I don’t think the people of Canada want the federal government or the finance minister to write big cheques lightly,” she said.
In her remarks, Ms. Chow said she is grateful for the federal government that has now “fully delivered” for Toronto and the city has been made whole for the 2023 fiscal year.
“They have fully delivered on what we asked for to help us support the thousands of refugees in Toronto’s shelter system,” she said.
Ms. Chow added that because the start of the city and federal government’s fiscal calendars don’t align, Ottawa is providing $40-million for the first quarter of this year as a “down payment” in funding “because they know our financial plight.”
“The federal government has been a great partner on this file, a great partner for Toronto,” she said.
Ms. Chow said that every night in Toronto, nearly 6,000 refugee claimants sleep in the city’s shelters, warming centres and community agencies. She said the number of refugees in the city rose dramatically since the summer, with one of two people seeking shelter in the city now refugee claimants.
Ottawa’s new funding now unlocks shelter money from the provincial government, which committed an additional $600-million over three years as part of Ontario’s new deal with Toronto. That provincial funding was contingent on participation from Ottawa.