‘Everything’ being considered in the quest for housing

Providing refugees shelter from the storm of war is a challenge for cities across the country. Toronto and Vancouver already have a shortage of affordable housing, and immigrant settlement agencies are scrambling to find enough units for the anticipated arrival of 25,000 Syrians by Jan. 1 — four times the number of government-sponsored refugees who usually arrive in a year.

“We are looking at everything from mosques and synagogues to gyms and schools,” said Chris Friesen, chairman of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance, who is based in Vancouver. “If you have a basement suite, an empty summer cottage, a room, anything, please let us know.”

Ontario has said it will accept 10,000 refugees by the end of 2016, while Quebec initially pledged to resettle 6,000. The terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday have prompted some politicians — including Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall — to question whether the six-week time frame will compromise security screening. Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau said preparing for the influx by the year’s end is too difficult — a notion Premier Philippe Couillard rejected.

With the numbers still unclear, settlement agencies are relying on estimates based on the current allocation of government-assisted refugees, broken down by province and city. That would see Ontario taking in about 6,875 (2,269 of whom would go to Toronto); B.C. 2,875; the Prairies 7,000; Quebec 6,100; the Atlantic region 2,150.

“We are in the dark, but we are using this as a baseline to prepare,” said Mario Calla, executive director of COSTI Immigrant Services in Toronto.

The Canadian Armed Forces are expected to assist with logistical and transportation demands, and to accommodate refugees initially.

“The CAF is reviewing accommodation available at bases and wings should the CAF be called upon . . . our intent is to use vacant spaces,” said Ashley Lemire, a Department of National Defence spokesperson.

During the resettlement of 5,000 Kosovars in 1999, daily flights arrived with refugees, alternating between CFB Trenton, Ont. and CFB Greenwood, N.S. The refugees underwent immigration processing, medical screening and received new clothing before moving on to reception centres across the country.

In Toronto, Calla has identified 400 spaces in inexpensive motels near the airport on Kingston Road and in Scarborough for short-term stays. He has also reached out to the Syrian community, to private landlords and ordinary citizens to open their homes temporarily for the refugees. For long-term accommodation, a network of landlords in Parkdale, Rexdale, Mississauga and elsewhere will rent to refugee families at the $700-a-month social assistance rate a family of four receives for shelter, he said, noting the government supports the refugees for up to a year.

In Vancouver, one of the world’s most expensive cities, an appeal to the public last week generated 280 housing leads, said Friesen.

In Alberta, five refugee reception centres are preparing to receive refugees “without knowing how many, or when they will come,” said Alice Colak, vice-president of Catholic Social Services in Edmonton.