Nearly 4,000 hotel rooms are being billed to taxpayers monthly to accommodate illegal immigrants and refugee claimants, according to the Department of Immigration. Blacklock's Reporter says the government has acknowledged the need for a more "permanent, sustainable" solution.“As of May 30, the department’s hotel footprint consists of approximately 3,810 rooms in 29 hotels housing approximately 6,900 claimants in British Columbia, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador,” said a June 13 briefing note. The largest number of refugee hotels were in Ontario, specifically in Cornwall, Kingston, Mississauga, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, and Windsor.Since 2017, costs have totaled $1.76 billion, including $960 million in subsidies paid to municipalities through an Interim Housing Assistance Program and $796.5 million paid directly to hotelkeepers.“Canada is continuing to experience high volumes of asylum claimants due to a number of factors,” said the briefing note titled Responding To Current Asylum Volumes. Refugee claimants and illegal immigrants totaled 144,000 last year compared to 92,000 the year before. Claims in the first four months of this year totaled 62,000.“Canada remains committed to ensuring safe migration and upholding a fair and compassionate refugee protection system in the face of historic levels of global displacement,” the note continued. “The in-Canada asylum system has faced mounting pressures in recent years, leading to lengthy processing times and backlogs, resulting in prolonged uncertainty for applicants.”The department acknowledged in a May 8 report to the Senate national finance committee that the hotel room program was not sustainable and that a remedy would take years to implement.“Funding in 2026 will be conditional on provincial and municipal investments in permanent transitional housing solutions for asylum claimants,” wrote the department. This move aims to “transition the department’s response towards more effective and sustainable solutions.”Currently, refugee claimants can spend months in hotels with paid expenses for meals and medical care. “It varies from a few weeks to a few months,” said Nathalie Manseau, chief financial officer for the immigration department, in testimony at a Senate committee hearing last December 7.Room and board typically cost $224 per day, according to a May 3 Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. Meals averaged $84 per day, and hotel costs were an additional $140 per night, totaling $224.“Asylum claimants are treated with compassion and efficiency while preserving the integrity of the immigration system,” said the Inquiry. The figures were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Lianne Rood (Lambton-Kent, Ont.), who asked, “With regard to the government’s provision of goods and services to irregular border crossers seeking asylum, what items are provided to entrants at the time of crossing?”
