Ottawa Gives $212M Funding Boost for Housing Asylum Seekers

Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser speaks at a news conference highlighting the government's inflation relief efforts for those hardest hit by rising food prices, in Calgary, April 3, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

The federal government is announcing $212 million more in funding for interim housing for people claiming asylum in Canada, including about $97 million for Toronto.

The city has been seeing asylum seekers and refugee claimants sleeping on the sidewalks, unable to get a space in Toronto’s overwhelmed shelter system.