Last Updated On 18 July 2023, 12:47 PM EDT (Toronto Time)
Today, the IRCC Minister Sean Fraser announced new funding that will ensure impacted communities have the capacity to keep a roof over the heads of vulnerable asylum claimants who want Canada’s protection.
This new announcement was made by the immigration minister in Moncton, New Brunswick.
This assistance will be provided by a one-time funding injection of approximately $212 million into the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP), which will be extended until March 31, 2024.
This includes new funding of approximately $97 million for the City of Toronto.
IHAP provides provinces and municipalities with cost-shared financing for the provision of interim accommodation for asylum seekers.
The funding announced today is in addition to the nearly $700 million already provided by the program, including over $215 million for the City of Toronto.
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In addition to IHAP, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been collaborating with the most affected provinces and municipalities to increase the number of temporary housing units.
As of early July, IRCC had over 3,800 hotel accommodations in six provinces to house asylum seekers temporarily.
What is Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP)?
Through the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP), the Canadian government provides provincial and municipal governments with cost-shared funding to alleviate the extraordinary pressures on interim housing resulting from increase in asylum claimants since 2017.
During the fiscal year 2022–2023, payments totaling over $164 million were made to cover eligible IHAP costs, including approximately:
88 million dollars to Toronto
67 million dollars to the Canadian province of Quebec
9 million dollars to the City of Ottawa
What is IRCC Temporary Public Policy for Asylum Claimants?
On November 16, 2022, IRCC implemented a temporary public policy (TPP) that provides asylum claimants with expeditious access to open work permits, enabling them to enter the Canadian labour market and support themselves while awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.
From the implementation of the public policy until May 31, 2023, IRCC issued over 53,000 initial work permits to asylum seekers.
Providing asylum seekers with a work permit earlier in the process will enable them to access employment opportunities and reduce their reliance on provincial and territorial social assistance and other forms of support.
What could this announcement be?
There was no clear indication in the official media advisory as of to what this new announcement would have been.
Our wild guess: Today being Tuesday, the immigration minister may unveil the first Agri-Food targeted Express Entry draw or this could be totally a different announcement.
Let’s hope of something good to come up from today’s announcement as it is marked as “important.”
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With due respect, I’m just wondering what’s for the delay for response of the applicants who applied through the RNIP program…
It’s now close to two (2) years no response from that side
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It’s lovely to see that Canada is warming and welcoming for new migrants and their families I personally can’t wait to migrate with my own family to Canada 🍁 it is good to see that Canada makes it fair to have others start a new life and build themselves up and benefit the economy and expand programs to suit all types of workers students families and people.
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As usual, there’s nothing for international student graduates. Nothing for CEC candidates. So…
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ircc news,
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