Thank you very much, Chair.
I welcome this opportunity to appear before the committee. My name is Lisa MacLeod, and I am the minister responsible for immigration policy in the new Ontario government.
Our new government, like most or all Ontarians, recognizes the value and the importance of immigration to our economic prosperity. Ontario receives more immigrants than any other province in the country. We also receive more refugees than any other province. We are proud of our ability and capacity to welcome, settle, and integrate immigrants and refugees. Ontarians are generous in welcoming and supporting the settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees, and Ontarians know that immigration enhances all of our prosperity and brings investment and opportunity to our province.
Ontarians also want to know that there is integrity in the immigration and refugee system. Today, I'm appearing before this committee to highlight issues of systemic integrity that have arisen as a result of federal decisions.
Right now, Ontario is receiving an unprecedented number of illegal border crossers who, after crossing, are making a claim for refugee status using a loophole in the Canada-United States safe third country agreement to claim asylum. These crossings are an entirely different matter and are taking advantage of Ontarians' generosity. Our position on this issue has been crystal clear since the new government formed on June 29. Our new government believes that managing the influx of crossers is the federal government's responsibility. The federal government must also fund the services required to support them in full. Ontario can only do so much.
Since January 2016, we have received and welcomed more than 36,000 refugee claimants. In addition, more than 5,500 refugee claimants who made their claims in Quebec have reported moving to Ontario since January 2017. Now communities across our province are straining to support the high number of crossers.
In the city of Toronto, about 45% of shelter occupants are refugees. Our new government has stepped up to facilitate the use of approximately 800 spaces in college and university residences for shelter space during the summer. In addition, funds have been set aside for Red Cross support services in the college residential spaces that are being used as shelters.
After more than a year of consistent pressure on our shelter, welfare, and legal aid systems, the federal government announced that, at a future date, it will provide Ontario with $11 million. We estimate, however, that Ontario's cost to support these crossers is now approximately $200 million. That's $90 million in annualized welfare costs, $74 million in shelter costs for the City of Toronto by the year's end, $12 million and growing in shelter costs for the City of Ottawa, $3 million to the Red Cross to assist with temporary shelters, and $20 million in education costs for the children of these crossers. There has also been a strain on our legal aid system. In addition, the City of London is reporting strains within its shelter system. The problems seem to be spreading without any light at the end of the tunnel.
This crisis situation is aggravated by lengthy delays in the federal government's refugee determination system. Hearings that should be completed within 60 days are now taking approximately two years to be held, with no improvements in sight. This is two years of delays that leave families in limbo. Two years is far too long for people to await a decision. Two years is far too long for people in Ontario to be asked to support crossers whose claims may be denied two or three years from now. The federal government must regain control of the processing timetables, so that failed claimants leave more quickly and those accepted as refugees are able to move ahead and integrate into Ontario society. It is in everyone's interests to have refugee claims processed quickly and efficiently.
The federal government must also address border control and policy issues, including the gap in the Canada-United States safe third country agreement that contributes to the high number of irregular border crossers. In short, it is the federal government's responsibility to identify and fully fund a solution to the crisis caused by the handling of the crossers. That includes working with the City of Toronto, the City of Ottawa, and other affected municipalities to address the housing situation by providing full funding to the municipal shelter system and identifying federal facilities that can be used to house individuals and families currently staying in college dorms, who will be homeless after August 9, when they are expected to move out.
Ontario also expects the federal government to address the costs associated with crossers' access to our welfare and legal aid systems, as well as our education system. Ontario is looking to the federal government to uphold its responsibility to actively manage the influx of border crossers and provide full financial support to cover the costs incurred.
Ontarians are pro-immigration, but the current crisis has tested their patience. I say this to the federal government: Take responsibility for your choices; stand behind them and fully fund them, rather than passing the cost on to hard-pressed Ontario municipalities.
Thank you.