Peel reception centre’s opening hinges on funds
Brampton mayor says site could begin housing asylum seekers as soon as July if Ottawa, the province agree to more money
Peel Region could open a longawaited reception centre to provide front-line services and temporary shelter for more than 1,000 asylum claimants each month as soon as July, if Ottawa and the province agree to provide more than $46 million in additional funding, says Brampton mayor Patrick Brown.
A copy of the proposal for the funding, sent to Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada (IRCC) for review, was shared with the Star. It details the region’s plan for a centralized resource hub for asylum claimants in the GTA, in a fourstorey office building near Toronto Pearson Airport.
The reception centre, which Brown says faced delays over funding clashes with the federal government, is a service that advocates say they’ve been calling for since 2019 to address the needs of asylum seekers who have pushed the GTA shelter systems beyond capacity over the last year.
Once it opens, the new site will offer food, up to five days of temporary shelter, health and social support, legal aid, and other settlement referrals and support for about 1,300 asylum seekers each month. From there, they will be connected with shelter and other services across the GTA.
“It’s more about making sure that the stay at the shelter is a transition and that we help people get a hand up,” said Brown, who sees this as a long-term measure to address housing instability for asylum seekers.
“I don’t want to be begging Ottawa or the province for funds when people are outside of our shelter system in the middle of winter, so there needs to be something more sustainable than simply relying on the region booking hotel rooms and desperately hoping that we’re going to be paid back.”
To make it happen, the region says it will take nearly $15 million: $3.6 million from the IRCC to renovate and open the centre, and an annual contribution of $9.9 million from the IRCC and $1 million from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development of Ontario to run the centre.
The proposal — created through a collaboration between the Peel Region, the IRCC, the province, and the City of Toronto — outlines the urgent need for these services due to a rise in asylum seekers expected to arrive in the GTA “for the foreseeable future, driven by multiple, intersecting, global crises, and a protracted national housing affordability crisis.” The centre would provide a proactive and co-ordinated resource for the region, separate from the current emergency shelter system.
In their plan, Peel Region also proposed $6.4 million to create three dormitory-style, 90-day shelter spaces for more than 1,250 asylum seekers, including one in the reception centre itself, along with $25.8 million annually to run the shelters. To enhance other housing, health, and settlement services in the Peel Region for newcomers, Peel has asked for $35,735 annually per asylum claimant — and $62,000 annually per asylum claimant for other regions supporting people.
So far, IRCC has announced more than $7 million in funding for the centre, as a reimbursement.
“To date, these funds have not been confirmed or received,” the Peel Region’s proposal says.
Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesperson for the IRCC, said that the ministry is reviewing the proposal and intends to continue working closely with Peel Region.
“This collaboration will benefit municipalities across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and comes after consultations with mayors and key stakeholders in the region,” he wrote.
“There is no simple answer but we are confident that with full engagement from all levels of government, we can implement real long-term, sustainable, and compassionate measures that will ensure that the most vulnerable newcomers to Canada have a roof over their heads.”
Brown says that the Region of Peel signed a 10-year lease to secure the location for the reception centre, after a difficult search due to the region’s low vacancy rate for commercial buildings. Although the federal funding is temporary — and not yet ensured — he’s hopeful that the federal and provincial governments will see the benefit in making a long-term commitment to this service for the GTA.
Jacky Tuinstra Harrison, executive director of Matthew House refugee support centre, said she will be happy to see more support added for newcomers, but is not celebrating yet.
“There have been some premature victory parties over the course of the last year,” she said, noting that there were several earlier opening dates set for the centre that have since been pushed back due to a lack of funding. “Before we have the victory parade, which if it is all comes to pass is very much overdue … everything centres on the funding.”