City explains why it missed federal deadline for reimbursement of shelter costs for asylum claimants

A mistake at city hall could see London, Ont. lose out on more than $1 million of federal funding to reimburse emergency shelters providing beds to asylum claimants.

On Monday, the Community and Protective Services (CAPS) Committee discussed why London missed the deadline for federal reimbursement of shelter costs related to asylum claimants.

The mayor urged the committee to avoid finger pointing.

“In these situations when they get very tense, it’s pretty easy to start pointing fingers at everybody, but that does not actually solve the challenge that we have in our city,” Mayor Josh Morgan told the committee.

People arriving in Canada seeking asylum are increasingly travelling to London and staying in emergency shelter beds, including Mission Services and the Salvation Army Centre of Hope.

According to a municipal database, between May 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, there were 123 individual asylum claimants who spent a total of 11,073 nights in emergency shelter beds— 11.9 per cent of the city’s capacity.

At an average cost of $96.66/night, shelter costs have exceeded $1 million.

Last November, council directed civic administration to prepare a report about the number of asylum seekers in London and apply for reimbursement of eligible costs from the federal government’s Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP).

However, MP Peter Fragiskatos told CTV News on Friday that London missed the application period.

Director of Housing Stability Services Craig Cooper told the CAPS Committee that staff were unaware of the deadline, “We wanted to bring that data back to council and committee first, before finalizing any outreach to the federal government.”

“I find it, frankly, a bit troublesome that the federal government has chosen to put a deadline on these applications,” Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said. “As we know, asylum seekers are continuing to enter the country every day.”

The mayor said he will engage with federal officials and local Members of Parliament to see if some funding can still be secured for 2023-24.

“This has gotten to the point where I would particularly be engaged and assisting in the dialogue with both the ministry level, [and] with the elected officials,” Morgan added.

Despite the communications gap, Fragiskatos has committed to do his best to secure federal funds to cover the eligible costs.

The actual number of asylum seekers in shelters is likely even higher than identified in the staff report.

Some people may not disclose their personal information when entering a shelter.

Cooper also confirmed that some shelters do not utilize the database—including the city’s Winter Response to Homelessness.

Coun. Corrine Rahman said she has spoken with local agencies that are increasingly providing basic services to asylum seekers as well.

“We need to provide the fullest picture possible of what it is that we are experiencing here in London, Ontario,” Rahman told staff.

“What are the full numbers?” Coun. Elizabeth Peloza asked rhetorically following the meeting. “Realizing the asylum seekers are still needing care [and] accessing service, it’s going to be an ongoing [funding] request.

Cooper said the lessons learned from this experience will inform an application for the reimbursement of costs in 2024-25.

Council will consider the report about asylum seekers on May 14.