Fix Housing 13: Asylum Seekers are the Growing Face of Homelessness in Canada
And they have unique needs. Communal homes are better and cheaper than shelters to help asylum seekers quickly become productive members of society.
The face of homelessness in Canada is evolving.
Asylum seekers — those fleeing conflict or persecution in their home country and who enter Canada and make a formal claim for asylum — are making up a growing share of our homeless population. Asylum seekers account for perhaps half of all people in Canada experiencing homelessness.
Part of a global surge
This is not a Canada-specific phenomena. Around the world, there has been a sharp rise in asylum seekers.
(Asylum seekers are also referred to as refugee claimants, newcomers or even irregular migrants. They differ from refugees who enter Canada through a resettlement program. Resettlement involves the refugee application being processed in a third country and the refugee supported in Canada through a public or a privately-sponsored program for a year or more.)
While relatively few asylum seekers come to Canada — perhaps 2% of the global total — cities across the country are nevertheless dealing with numbers of claimants that they have never experienced before. The chart below shows the sharp rise in asylum seekers in Canada. This number is on track to rise further in 2024.
Unique needs
Asylum seekers arrive in Canada with few belongings or resources. Housing is an immediate priority, and many refugee claimants end up without housing or the resources required to attain housing.
They have shown initiative and determination to overcome persecution in their home country. They had the ability to get themselves half way around the world. Asylum seekers have the skills to quickly integrate into Canadian society.
But refugee claimants are strangers in a strange land. Their initial challenge in Canada is to navigate the solutions required to be a part of Canadian society.
They require housing, but also specific services related to claiming refugee status.
Asylum seekers require legal aid to file their claim. Once that claim is deemed eligible, claimants require support navigating the systems to apply for social assistance, access immigration health services, apply for a work permit, find employment and find suitable housing.
Shelters don’t work well
The shelter system does not generally work well for asylum seekers.
Shelters do not provide the wrap-around supports required by refugee claimants. They do not receive the help required to file a refugee claim, and the subsequent supports required to quickly become productive members of Canadian society.
Asylum seekers who end up in the traditional shelter system flounder because they don’t have a roadmap for navigating the appropriate Canadian processes.
Scattered sites work
The vast majority of asylum seekers are looking to become productive members of Canadian society as quickly as possible, include during the years it can take to have their refugee claim heard.
They require communal housing in sites scattered across a city as well as wrap-around supports.
Matthew House, Stepstone House and Carty House are three charities that provide this housing and supports for refugees. Often staffed by former refugee claimants, these charities understand the unique needs of asylum seekers.
Charities focused on supporting refugee claimants have develop a model of communal homes that works. Asylum seekers live in shared residential homes scattered throughout a city.
Everyone contributes to meals and to the upkeep of the home. Residents are provided with the immigration, employment, housing and medical supports they need. Residents are expected to transition out of the homes and into the community within 3-6 months. Given the shortage of affordable housing in Canada, the average length of stay has pushed closer to 6 months.
More cost effective
The communal homes model is much cheaper than other options.
A Matthew House article compiled the following costs of accommodating refugees.
In addition to a lower cost per bed, communal homes focus on helping asylum seekers transition into the community as quickly as possible. They have lower costs per bed, but also help refugees get out of emergency accommodations and into regular housing faster.
Municipalities are largely on their own
Canada has no national strategy for asylum seekers. Unlike refugee resettlement programs, there is no program to assist asylum seekers in Canada, with housing or the services required.
The burden of managing asylum seekers falls on host municipalities.
Given the sharp rise in asylum seekers since COVID, the federal government created an Interim Housing Assistance Program to support provinces and municipalities. But it is up to municipalities to determine what solutions are required, and how to patch together the required funding.
A solution that works
Charities have figured out what works for housing refugee claimants and helping them to become productive members of society as quickly as possible.
It is the model of communal homes with wrap-around supports, located at scattered residential houses throughout a city.
Cities should be scaling up this scattered sites model.
Cities should not be expanding the shelter system to accommodate asylum seekers. It is not required.
We know a better way. Communal homes with wrap-around supports.