An increasing number of asylum seekers to Quebec is putting pressure on the province’s social services network, with homeless shelters in Montreal bearing the brunt of the influx of people.
France Labelle, executive director of a downtown Montreal homeless shelter for youth, says a rising number of requests for beds is coming from asylum seekers, who she says compose about 10 per cent of her clientele.
Administrative delays within the federal asylum application process and the lack of resources at organizations mandated to help would-be refugees are forcing the vulnerable group to turn to homeless shelters, Labelle, from Le Refuge des jeunes de Montréal, said in a recent interview.
“It is not that we don’t want to welcome these people, because shelters are there to welcome people in need, but the problem is that the network is already overwhelmed,” she said. “On top of that, it is winter, so our capacity is very limited.”
The federal government says that between January and November 2022, 45,250 asylum seekers arrived in Quebec, compared to 7,290 would-be refugees who entered the country through the province for all of 2021.
Labelle said the majority of the asylum seekers looking for shelter at her organization are coming by plane from countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi or Senegal. “We have noticed an increase in youth coming from Mexico recently; we have youth from Haiti.
“And the stories are different. Some are here fleeing war, others are fleeing drug traffickers. For some, it has to do with their sexual orientation. Out of about 50 youth, we found that 15 were dealing with mental health issues that require intervention by health professionals.”
Sam Watts, head of homeless shelters with the Welcome Hall Mission, says he has also seen a rise over the last few months in asylum seekers looking for a place to stay within his organization. Homelessness in the asylum seeker population in Montreal is a relatively new phenomenon, he said in a recent interview.
Since August, his various homeless shelters have welcomed about 37 asylum seekers every month, he said. “It goes as high as 46 in some months, and they stay between 12 and 19 days typically.”
Quebec’s Regional Program for the Settlement and Integration of Asylum Seekers is responsible to deliver services to would-be refugees such as temporary housing, health care and information on the immigration process. Spokespeople for that program declined an interview request and referred questions to the federal Immigration Department.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in an email that housing for asylum seekers remains a provincial responsibility, adding that the federal government is committed to working with the provinces to help alleviate the pressure.
Quebec Premier François Legault said last month that the province needed help from Ottawa to house, educate and integrate the rising number of asylum seekers in the province.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2023.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
