Peel Region officials have voiced concerns about the planned opening of a new reception centre for refugees near Pearson Airport, amid uncertainty about whether other Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) municipalities can accommodate and house asylum seekers this winter.
“We can’t fully open the reception centre operations until we have some confidence that other municipalities are going to be able to take those asylum seekers,” said Jason Hastings, Peel Region’s director of social development, planning, and partnerships, during a recent meeting of the Government Relations Committee. Hastings emphasized that aggregating all demand in Peel could overwhelm the region without adequate housing options in neighboring municipalities.
The initiative to establish the reception centre came last year in response to the growing number of asylum claimants seen spilling into the streets outside a Toronto shelter intake centre on Peter Street, following their arrival at Pearson Airport. The urgency of the situation was underscored by the death of an asylum seeker camped outside a former Peel Region shelter.
While the federal government allocated $7 million to the project, Peel officials remain cautious about moving forward without assurance of a coordinated housing plan across the GTHA. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown had initially hoped the centre could be operational within months, but as of now, Toronto officials and Peel Region have not set a definitive opening date.
Toronto’s General Manager of Shelter and Support Services, Gord Tanner, highlighted the ongoing strain at the Peter Street respite centre, saying, “People continue to arrive there directly from the airport.”
Hastings indicated that while the reception centre could open as early as February 2025, it would only be effective if other municipalities across the GTHA have the capacity to integrate newcomers into their shelter systems. He noted that some regions are lacking essential tools, like housing subsidies, to accommodate asylum seekers, which further complicates the situation.
Mayor Brown pointed to the recent opening of the first floor of the Spectrum Way shelter site in Mississauga as a significant milestone. This four-story facility, a converted office building, is expected to serve two functions: a short-term regional reception centre offering up to five-day stays to triage and support asylum seekers before relocating them, and a longer-term shelter offering stays of up to 90 days.
Currently, the 90-day shelter at Spectrum Way has 88 beds, with plans to increase to 500 beds in early 2025. The reception centre, once fully operational, is expected to house up to 179 individuals, providing on-site settlement services, health support, and social services before relocating refugees to other areas.
However, Brown emphasized that the centre’s scale and operations are contingent on federal funding and support from other municipalities. “The reception centre component is dependent on the ability of other municipalities to house and settle asylum claimants in their communities,” he said.
The federal government, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), increased funding for the project to $22 million after Peel submitted an updated proposal in July. IRCC stated it will continue collaborating with Peel Region to finalize the centre’s opening timeline.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, addressing the delay, expressed urgency, saying, “We cannot wait to open up that reception centre.” Chow stressed that Toronto is doing its part, with asylum seekers comprising over 50% of the city’s shelter population. “Six thousand refugee claimants are in our shelters,” Chow noted. “No other cities, no other municipalities across Canada have taken as many.”
The delayed reception centre remains a pressing issue, as winter approaches and municipalities grapple with how to effectively distribute support to asylum seekers across the region.