Asylum seekers from Haiti, Mexico, and other countries have increased their numbers by 130 percent, putting a strain on shelters and leaving Canadian authorities frantic with a $822 million catastrophe.
The liberal government is taking measures to discourage the flow of migrants north since shelter services in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto are at capacity. Similar issues to Canada’s migrant crisis have been seen in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, all attempting to manage their floods of people from less developed nations.
The shelter system in Peel, a suburb of Toronto, operates at 300 percent capacity. Asylum-seekers are using over 70% of the beds, and many more are sleeping on the streets. Canadian officials must ensure that asylum seekers are not abandoned if the nation decides to accept more of them, according to Brampton, Ontario mayor Patrick Brown. The situation has worsened since shelter facilities in Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are all at capacity, which means there isn’t enough room for the homeless.
Although Canada’s geographical location ensures that the country experiences much fewer illegal border crossings than the United States, the number of people entering the country by air, especially from Mexico, has risen.
Extraordinary temporary housing demands from asylum seekers prompted Trudeau’s administration to grant provinces and cities around C$360 million ($265 million) in January to assist with the situation. Regarding homelessness, since 2017, Canada has spent around C$750 million on various levels of government, for a total of C$1.1 billion ($822 million).
Foreign workers and international students are driving record-breaking population rises in Canada, which co-occurs with the significant surge in asylum applicants. Unfortunately, Trudeau’s administration has recently reduced its immigration goals due to housing constraints, which has been a source of dissatisfaction for many. It limits the number of international student visas, among other measures.
