Richmond shelters struggling to accommodate newcomers

The City of Richmond is calling on the federal government to provide housing for refugees and asylum seekersas shelters in Greater Vancouver fill up with newcomers.

On March 4, acity committeepassed a motion to write a letterurging thegovernment to build moretemporary homes orreimburse the city for housing newcomers at theirfacilities.

Coun. Carol Day, who put forward the motion, saida surge in refugee claimants has overwhelmed homeless shelters in Richmond.

"We've been housing them for a long time ... and it takes spots away from people that really do need the homeless shelter," she toldCBC's The Early Edition.

The motion is expected to pass at a council meeting onMonday night,andthe letter would be sent soon afterwards, according to Day.

The Early Edition8:34Why are refugees ending up in homeless shelters?

Asylum seekers are ending up in shelters in B.C.s Lower Mainland and the situation is reaching crisis levels, says refugee claimant advocate Katya Avalos.

Aboutone-third of the 632 people who stayed in theRichmond House Emergency Shelter's 30 bedslast year were refugees or asylum seekers, Day said. The shelter isrun by the city and the Salvation Army.

Meanwhile, more than 160 people are experiencing homelessness in Richmond, according to the most recent countavailable.

Richmond is not alone. It's a predicament that other cities across the country such as Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa are also facing.

Like Richmond,local governments in Ottawa and Torontohave asked the federal government for help.

'Significant' role from provinces, cities

For itspart, the federal government hasearmarked about $362 millionfor cities and provincesstruggling to cope with therising number of refugee claimants through the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP).

IHAPis a cost-sharing program that provides reimbursement to provinces and municipalities for expenses related to the provision of interim housing for asylum claimants.

"The Government of Canada recognizes the significant role provincial and municipal governments play across the country in providing temporary shelter to asylum claimants," said a statement fromImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

The City of Richmond has not said if it would participate in the program.

Meanwhilein the Lower Mainland and throughout B.C.,homeless shelters are struggling to keep up with demand as the rise of newcomers puts pressure on the already overburdened system.

Last year, about 7,700 refugee claims were made in B.C., that's almost double the 3,895 claims that were made in 2022, according to a statement the province made to the CBC.

It said a majority of the claimants reside in Metro Vancouver.

In a statement to CBC, the Salvation Army's communications managerGavin Randhawasaidrefugees or asylum seekers takeupto 50 per cent of thespacein some of their shelters in Metro Vancouver.

Day said the asylum seekers and refugees should have somewhere to go to get the services they need.

The Richmond motion recommends building modular housing andrenting empty hotel roomsfor refugees and asylum claimants.

"They should have a place to go," she said.

"If we can't house them, should we be letting them in," Day asked."That is a federal responsibility."

IRCC said since 2017, Ottawa has provided $6 million to B.C. in support for, "alleviating asylum-related housing pressures."

Distinguishing between asylum seekers,assisted refugees

Refugee claimant advocate Katya Avalossaidit's important to distinguish between asylum seekers and government-assisted refugees (GARs) to understandwhich groupis ending up in shelters and whether the city or the federal governmentshould foot the billfor sheltering them.

"I think there's a little bit of a confusion here," Avalos, thecommunity engagement director for the Multi-Agency Parnership(MAP), said during an interview with CBC's The Early Edition. MAP is a collaborative organization made up of government, non-government and non-profit agencies in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley that work with refugee claimants.

GARs are screened abroad and undergo security and health screenings prior to being issued a visa to come to Canada, Avalossaid. They arereferred by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, another designated referral organization or a private sponsorship group.

When they arrive in Canada, they are givenpermanent resident status, receive financial support and housing from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for about a year, Avalos said.

"This is not the population that's currently driving up the numbers and taking up [shelter] spaces," Avalos said.

In contrast,an asylum seeker also called an asylum claimant or refugee claimant is anyone who was forced out of one country and came to Canada asking for safe haven because of their dire situation.

They have been let in, provisionally, after declaring at any Canadian port of entry that they are seeking refugee status and being deemed eligible by the Canada Border Services Agencyor IRCC.

To qualify as a refugee, a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board must agree that the asylum claimant can't go home because of a risk to their life or fear of persecution.

The Early Edition7:29Richmond needs housing for asylum seekers, says councillor

Inadequate housing in the City of Richmond has forced asylum seekers to rely on shelters, says councillor Carol Day.

Many asylum seekers can't get federal helpif their claims haven't been fully granted,leaving many of them stuck in limbo with nowhere to sleep.

"Because there is no program to support them on arrival, they're left with their own means to find housing, to find support," Avalos said.

Most of them exhaust all their resources making the long journey to Canada, which is why they end up homeless or in shelters, she said.

The refugee claimant advocate saidshe agrees with the Richmond council's motion and urges the federal government to investin transitional housing for asylum seekers.

IRCCsays the onus of managing and delivering social services,including social assistance, education, housing and legal aid to asylum claimants, falls on the shoulders of provinces and municipalities, but with the help of federal funding.