By Paige Peacock, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer
A year after two asylum claimants died in the cold outside a Mississauga shelter waiting for a bed, one of the worst winter cold stretches in years is set to arrive in Peel, without a reception centre that was supposed to open in the fall.
This past February the Region of Peel reported the death of asylum claimant Delphina Ngigi, a mother of four from Kenya, who perished outside Mississauga’s cramped Dundas shelter while waiting for a space to open up inside. Ngigi was the second asylum claimant to succumb to the conditions while waiting outside the same shelter, after another fatality just three months prior.
The fatalities finally drew the attention of Peel’s local elected officials who for years ignored the crisis at their doorstep. They scrambled to find a quick solution, to avoid a similar outcome this winter.
A year later, the Region has failed to make good on that plan. Despite pulling together a strategy last year to meet the rapidly rising demand for emergency shelter spaces due to an influx of asylum claimants, Peel staff appear to have bungled the strategy.
Ottawa provided $22 million in the summer to open a reception centre and shelter facility ahead of the winter. It is still not operational and despite committing to a range of wrap-around supports for asylum claimants that the federal funding was supposed to provide, staff confirmed to The Pointer in September that those features would not more forward.
Meanwhile, the emergency shelter component that was supposed to be opened with 680 beds ahead of November will not launch until February.
Instead, an 88-bed space in the building was opened for asylum claimants at the start of November.
The full opening of the facility, meant to provide wraparound triage services, including medical evaluations, legal aid support, immigration services, family settlement and language services, has faced several delays despite the requirement under the federal funding to open the reception centre with all the services and beds before November 1.
The Region waited to secure more funding staff said was critical to the eventual relocation of claimants into more permanent housing. Though the Region initially promised in September that a 680-bed shelter would be opened ahead of November 1 — a deadline outlined by the federal government as part of the funding agreement through its Interim Housing Assistance Program — it was later reduced to just 88 emergency shelter spots for asylum claimants.
While staff would not provide updated numbers on how many individuals are in its shelter system right now overall, or what the currently nightly demand is, a spokesperson said a report on the work underway to reduce homelessness in Peel will be presented to council on February 13.
The Region confirmed the reception centre is on track to accommodate 680 asylum claimants by the beginning of February.
That won’t help those dealing with the arrival of one of the worst cold weather snaps in years, with temperatures in Peel expected to drop to -18 Celsius in the next few days, which will feel much colder with the wind chill.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) recently reported that last year there were more than 80,000 Ontarians experiencing homelessness. Officials say that number has grown by more than 25 percent in two years. Without significant intervention, the Association warns homelessness in Ontario could double in the next decade, reaching “nearly 300,000 people in an economic downturn.”
Mississauga does not operate any warming centres for the vulnerable, making the area particularly dangerous when temperatures plummet and emergency shelter capacity cannot meet the demand.
The Region of Peel currently has a contract in place with six hotels to support homeless individuals when the shelter systems are over capacity, but remains financially burdened with an average cost of $141 per night to house someone in these spaces, resulting in a $50 million bill for the Region annually for overflow, according to latest estimates. That compares to just $2.5 million Peel paid for overflow hotels in 2019, an illustration of how rapidly the housing crisis has grown. Peel currently provides 520 shelter beds through seven dedicated facilities, which have been as much as 400 percent over capacity in the last two years and have been chronically over capacity for a decade, as elected officials have failed to fund non-temporary solutions.
As of February 2024, approximately 1,529 asylum claimants were living in the emergency shelter system, accounting for 72 percent of the available shelter and overflow hotel beds in Peel. The demand has raised significant concerns about the Region’s ability to accommodate its most vulnerable residents. By October 2024 the Region had managed to transition 78 percent of more than 1,000 asylum claimants in Peel into overflow hotel spaces. The remaining 22 percent were being housed at the Leanne Shelter the Region established as a dedicated facility for asylum claimants.
For nearly two years, officials in Peel have struggled to address an asylum claimant crisis that has overburdened the local shelter system which was already filled to capacity due to years of underfunding to address homelessness across the region.
When the overwhelming numbers of asylum claimants pushed the system to 400 percent capacity at its peak—with refugees making up approximately 70 percent of those who were accommodated, many in hotels—the two fatalities finally motivated staff and regional councillors to take more decisive action.
Staff introduced a long-term strategy centered on permanent housing solutions. The response, described as “sustainable” and “person-centered”, focused on the establishment of a permanent regional reception centre near Pearson International Airport and the creation of dedicated dorm-style shelter facilities for asylum claimants.
While staff initially pitched the strategy with the impression it would be launched collectively this past fall, they later said it was contingent on receiving more funding from the federal government in the amount of $135 million for capital and operational costs associated with the reception centre and an additional shelter facility, overflow hotels and housing supports. This was not what was described publicly as part of the Region’s application to Ottawa for the $22 million that was received in the summer, to launch the full service reception centre and large shelter by November 1. After getting the money, staff claimed the full facility and services could not be operationalized until the remaining funding was received. The Region later revealed the centre would instead open in phases, not by the November 1 deadline detailed by Ottawa as part of its $22 million commitment.
“This project has always been planned to run in three phases, with associated deadlines, which are on track,” a regional spokesperson told The Pointer. It remains unclear when staff switched to a phased approach. When the strategy was first proposed in March last year there was no mention of this approach. It was not mentioned in the summer when the federal funding was received. The first indication of a phased approach was presented months later when an October staff report highlighted that only the first floor of the four-storey building would open before the end of that month, despite the November 1 deadline outlined as a condition of the IHAP funding and despite a statement by the Region weeks earlier that the full 680-bed shelter would be opened before the start of November.
Regional councillors have not raised questions about the bungled timelines and missed deadline, even as winter approached and the full shelter facility was not opened.
The spokesperson would not provide details of when the phased approach was introduced or if it meets the funding agreement between the federal government and the Region.
“Phase one” was completed in October, the spokesperson confirmed, with Peel currently operating the first floor of the facility located at 5100 Spectrum Way in Mississauga, offering 88 beds. The site offers 90 days of wrap-around support, including coordinating services for housing and employment, shelter and meals. Through the work so far, the Region has decommissioned five hotels it previously used as a short term response to house overflow capacity from Peel’s local shelter system.
“Phase Two of the project — opening all floors for 680 beds — will be complete in February,” the spokesperson told The Pointer. “Phase Three — which is working with [Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada] on exit strategies for asylum seekers — is in development now. IRCC is pursuing a national strategy that relies on the development of a permanent, sustainable transitional housing system being built in municipalities across the country.”
Phase three’s services are largely “a federal-level responsibility.”
In addition to shelter support, services being piloted at the welcome centre include on-site settlement assistance, employment and housing aid, and access to income support programs, such as Ontario Works. The pilot, the spokesperson explained, includes onboarding Legal Aid Ontario and public health services. IRCC is also onsite to provide case management and coordinated exits to other municipalities through employment opportunities.
In September, the Region of Peel informed The Pointer that the intended wrap-around services and triage component, meant to be the main focus of the initiative supported by Ottawa, would not be operationalized by November 1 because of an additional $84 million needed to provide housing subsidies for up to 1,300 asylum claimants per month to “facilitate claimants’ settlement into independent housing in Peel and other municipalities across the GTHA”. Those funds had not been secured from the federal and provincial governments. Without the housing component, regional staff told The Pointer the centre would instead serve solely as a 680-bed shelter, not its “intended function of effectively triaging asylum claimants and moving them into independent housing.”
“The additional funding for housing subsidies that the Region recommended to the federal government would have allowed us to serve more claimants and move them to independence faster,” the Region’s spokesperson recently told The Pointer. “The federal government is taking a different approach through the creation of a national system of sustainable, permanent transitional housing for asylum claimants. We are working with them on their plan and look forward to seeing the national system stood-up.”
“The phased approach was put in place to best serve the needs of homeless asylum claimants in Peel and the funding provided by IRCC. Exits can be developed in tandem with the property being opened as a shelter.”
A report on Peel’s asylum claimant response will be presented to regional council on February 27, the spokesperson said, and will highlight the progress the Region has made, “as well as considerations for our service level moving forward based on the increasing municipal cost share indicated in the recently announced federal (Interim Housing Assistance Program).”
Email: paige.peacock@thepointer.com
Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock
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