Evidence of meeting #33 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was services.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
In dollar value in 2025, the federal contribution was $29.8 million, and the regional contribution was $2.3 million.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Wow.
These services are being provided before a confirmation of eligibility from the federal government has been provided. Is that correct?
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
That means a fraudulent asylum claimant could potentially receive these services. Is that correct?
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
According to the government website, it says:
Historically, asylum claimants made up just 4 to 5% of the shelter population. By late 2023, they accounted for approximately 71%, nearly three out of every four individuals in the system. This surge pushed Peel's shelter capacity to over 400%, requiring Peel Region to secure overflow hotel spaces to meet the growing demand.
Is it correct that Peel has had to use overflow hotel spaces because the shelter system was overwhelmed by the sharp increase in asylum claimants?
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
In 2023, we rectified that. We separated the domestic homeless population from the asylum claimant homeless population. We converted a commercial building to congregate living for individuals. It can accommodate up to 590-some individuals in that centre, so those two are separated. We do use hotels for families.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
For that facility you talked about, how much federal money did you receive to build that facility?
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
We received $22 million, of which we spent only $20 million.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Does local homelessness still exist in the region of Peel?
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Essentially the government is housing asylum claimants, but there's still local homelessness for Canadians in Peel. Does that mean that the asylum seekers are pushing out local Canadians who are facing homelessness? Is that a fair characterization?
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
No, not in our system, because we separated the two populations. We have a dedicated centre, the Peel Reception Centre, for asylum claimants. We have hotels dedicated for family asylum claimants, and we have a separate shelter system for the homeless.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Do you normally do criminal background checks prior to serving asylum claimants and giving them hotel accommodations? I'm talking about local criminal background checks if they've committed a crime in Canada.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
What you're saying is that someone who's a convicted criminal, who has been convicted of a crime anywhere here in Canada, still has your door open to them?
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
To finish off, the federal Liberal government has lost control of our immigration system. We've seen a pattern of this on this committee. Local Peel residents are paying the price locally for private shelters, hotel costs and pressures on frontline services. Is that a fair characterization?
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
It's added to the complexity of the services provided, yes.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Is it putting a strain on the services for local Peel residents?
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Do you think the Liberal government, this federal government, has mismanaged the immigration system at all in any way?
Commissioner of Human Services, Region of Peel
I'm not qualified to respond as to whether it's mismanagement. They've stepped up when we've identified issues and cost issues and provided solutions through funding.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
They're not doing enough. They're not doing enough to help the local municipality. Is that correct?