$135M gap: Peel Region demanding Ottawa and Queen’s Park cover costs before welcome centre for asylum claimants can open

The Region of Peel is delaying work to open a reception facility that would provide desperately needed transitional support services to an influx of asylum seekers, despite securing $22 million from Ottawa. 

According to regional staff, Ottawa and Queen’s Park will have to fund the lion’s share of a broader Peel strategy to assist asylum seekers long-term, before they can move forward with the immediate launch of a reception centre by November 1st, the deadline to open the space given by the federal government.

“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received a revised proposal from Peel Region for a regional reception centre and dedicated shelter to receive, triage, temporarily house and offer important services to asylum claimants,” the federal government explained in a response to The Pointer Tuesday, September 17. “It is expected to begin operations in the coming months. IRCC has raised its initial $7M pledge and has provided Peel Region with a total upfront payment of $22 million… to be put toward the 2024 costs of establishing and launching the project. Please contact Peel Region for more information on the reception centre.”

But the Region of Peel informed The Pointer that the reception centre project would not move forward, until Ottawa and Queen’s Park provide additional funding for Peel’s broader strategy. 

Compounding the confusion, late Friday afternoon, September 20, Stewart Lazarus, a spokesperson for the Region, provided additional information on the status of the project. 

“[T]he reception centre will not open without adequate federal and provincial governments (Sic) funding for time-limited housing subsidies. If the funding is not secured, the site will open as a 680-bed shelter instead of a Reception Centre that will serve up to 1,300 asylum claimants per month.” 

It’s unclear whether the Region plans to use portions of the $22 million for this shelter project or what alternative funding will be used, as the letter from IRCC Minister Marc Miller announcing the $22 million that was later handed over makes it clear the federal government expects that money to be used for the reception centre. 

“I am pleased to report that the federal government is prepared to offer the Region of Peel a payment of $22 million under the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) toward those costs and with the intention that the reception centre be opened by November 1, 2024,” Miller wrote. “Any future grants towards costs associated with providing temporary housing to asylum claimants in 2024 will be addressed in subsequent agreements.” 

After follow-up reporting the Region stated it needs $135.5 million more, from the federal and provincial governments before moving forward with the project. This figure represents the combined cost of the region’s broader strategy in total—$157.5 million—less the $22 million that has already been provided. This impasse over funding was foreshadowed by regional staff who, in March, despite recommending the entire regional strategy to address the asylum claimant crisis be funded by upper levels of government, acknowledged in their report that receiving all the money would be unlikely. 

The response this week by the Region leaves a number of questions unanswered: It’s unclear why the Region is now stating the reception centre will not open without funding from Ottawa and Queen’s Park for other elements of Peel’s asylum claimant strategy, despite already receiving $22 million of the $23 million required for the combined welcome centre and shelter project.

It is also unclear how the Region of Peel’s decisions are being made. The Pointer sent questions requesting any information on a possible council motion that detailed the demands and funding conditions the Region provided to The Pointer this week. No clarification was provided. 

The Region provided a breakdown of the money it needs, before the welcome centre can move forward: $12 million in capital funding for the Reception Centre and an additional shelter facility; $61.3 million for operating costs ($4.5 million for the centre, $6.5 million for the shelter facility, and $50.3 million for overflow hotels); and $84.2 million for housing supports for 15,600 claimants.

“This encompasses Peel’s entire sustainable model to support asylum claimants which includes the Reception Centre, dedicated shelter facilities, and time-limited housing subsidies to quickly transition asylum claimants into more stable housing.”

The $22 million already provided by Ottawa was to cover the complete $12 million for capital costs to create the welcome centre and shelter, along with $10 million for operating costs (this would leave a $1 million gap for the operating costs of the reception facility and shelter). 

But, despite the bulk of the costs associated with the welcome centre and shelter now covered by the federal government, the Region has made it clear that unless each of the outstanding projects laid out in its overall strategy are funded, it will not proceed with the centre. 

“At this point, we cannot confirm the Reception Centre’s opening date,” the Region’s spokesperson said.

“While we’re grateful for the Federal government’s $22 million funding towards capital and operating costs, we have yet to secure the remaining funding necessary to open and operate the Reception Centre. We need both the federal and provincial government to commit to its funding.”

It is unclear what provincial funding the Region is referring to. Peel’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for clarification ahead of publication.

The Region is maintaining that staff will not proceed with the reception centre if more funding is not secured.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer)

While staff have offered few details around where the welcome centre will be located and when, or if, it will be operational by the November 1st deadline, the Region secured a new 74,000-square-foot facility in June at 5100 Spectrum Way in Mississauga, rumoured to be where the centre is located although the regional spokesperson would not confirm.   

Some councillors have acknowledged the Region needs to do better, Alvin Tedjo among them, who said in October last year that while Peel needs to be getting the attention of upper levels of government to “do their part,” he said the Region “still [has] an opportunity to do our part.” He said at the time that council “can't wait for other levels of government to come to the table,” adding “we need to show leadership and we need to be there ahead of it.” 

Asked on Friday about the Region’s delay in getting the reception centre operationalized, he told The Pointer, “I don’t believe we should delay opening this centre. There are too many people who need this support and we need to do what we can to help them. I will be working with staff and council to see what can be done to reduce any further delays in opening the centre.” 

Earlier this year, when the Region acknowledged the surge in asylum claimants required a new approach, staff identified a new model for responding to the crisis. It was built around establishing a permanent regional reception centre near Pearson International Airport and focusing on dedicated shelter facilities.

But the system, which was already severely strained as a result of years of underfunding, had already failed to meet the challenge.

An asylum seeker died outside an overcrowded Mississauga shelter last November, waiting for a space to open up. 

The state of Peel’s shelter systems, meant to provide support in emergency situations, highlighted that long-term solutions were long overdue.

 Despite placing the onus on upper levels of government to fund resources for asylum seekers, staff reports have acknowledged the approach is not sustainable.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer) 

Although the Region is pushing the financial load onto upper levels of governments, Peel staff previously acknowledged that relying on funding from Ottawa for refugees and asylum seekers would not rectify the problem long term. A report presented by staff earlier this year cautioned that while the Region had submitted yet another claim for funding with Ottawa for incurred costs, the “approach is not cost-effective nor viable over the long-term.” Sean Baird, Peel’s former commissioner of human services, echoed the statement, explaining to council in February that, “The IHAP program is a temporary program, it is not a source of permanent funding for these issues.”

Despite recognizing that relying on funding from upper levels of government was not a sustainable option, the Region went ahead and proposed a response staff said would only be possible if it was fully funded by upper levels of government. 

In March, as staff cautioned that costs were “being borne disproportionately by municipalities with their limited funding tools and resources,” the Region proposed what it called a more sustainable, “person-centered” approach to responding to the increasing number of asylum claimants flooding through Peel’s system. It was a plan that was criticized for placing the financial burden on funding from upper levels of government. The strategy came with a warning: that if further assistance was not provided, “Peel may need to limit its response,” which staff said could “negatively impact or stall an asylum claimant’s settlement journey.” The region’s response called for upper levels of government to provide 100 percent of the funding for the new programs.

While Peel staff and elected officials have pointed much of the blame at the federal government for not providing the financial aid required to adequately address the current crisis, regional councillors have failed to adequately invest in long-term solutions. 

Despite staff and councillors setting aside an additional $25 million in the Region’s 2024 budget for housing support, reports to the Region made it clear early on that the amount will not be enough to address the current situation as shelter overflow costs for the year were anticipated to exceed $68 million. In June 2023, as Peel’s shelter systems began to witness the rise in asylum seekers in need of support, the Region expanded its capacity to put a roof over their head by adding more beds and overflow hotels. It was an approach that cost the Region an additional $26.9 million in 2023, although those costs were covered almost in full by the federal government's IHAP funding (Peel received $22.4 million — 95 percent of the funds spent under the program for 2023).

Meanwhile, as the Region delays the much-needed project, it could lead to increasing pressure on Peel’s emergency shelter system and overflow hotel spaces. Previous predictions from the federal government estimated that in 2023 alone, Ontario was on track to receive more than 72,000 asylum claimants — nearly twice as many as the previous year. The arrival of inland asylum claimants is also anticipated to continue to increase over the next few years.

While the Region has been taking steps to address the issue, they have been limited in contrast to the rapidly growing need. Peel transitioned earlier this year toward using dorm-style facilities to house asylum claimants to alleviate some of the pressure on its shelter system and overflow hotels. One of these dorm-style sites was opened in December and by mid-January it was already operating at 100 percent occupancy. The Region later said plans were underway to expand the facility.

Asylum claimants, who historically only accounted for approximately five percent of Peel’s shelter population, were suddenly overwhelming the system to “levels never before experienced in Peel,” staff previously explained. A spokesperson from the Region told The Pointer earlier this week that staff are making progress on redirecting asylum seekers from local homeless shelters/hotels and placing them in dedicated shelters.

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Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock

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