In May 2023, Toronto publicized its decision to limit refugees’ access to general shelter beds. In a press conference, city staff stated that refugee claimants would be redirected to “services available to them through the federal government” due to a lack of provincial and federal funding. Despite this, many asylum seekers were seen sleeping on the streets of Toronto by June.
Last month, Toronto Ombudsman Kwame Addo published a report stating that this decision was inconsistent with the city’s commitment to adequate housing and transparency. For context, an Ombudsman holds public institutions accountable by investigating complaints that private citizens level against the city. Moreover, Addo found that this policy perpetuated systemic discrimination and anti-Black racism given that a significant number of refugee claimants affected were from African countries or of African descent.
Although the city initially decided to limit shelter access to refugees nearly two years ago and reversed the decision in July 2023, I feel that Addo’s recent report is more timely than ever given that more than 80,000 people in Ontario were unhoused in 2024. Even still, Toronto’s shelter system has taken few steps to address discriminatory practices.
Behind the decision
Toronto Shelter and Support Services (TSSS) first began denying beds to refugee claimants in November 2022, yet this policy wasn’t disclosed to the public until May 2023. In the interim, the shelters denied asylum to countless claimants due to a “lack of space” in the non-refugee shelter system, as noted in the Ombudsmans report.
As per Addo’s report, there were but a mere 1,700 refugee-specific beds out of a total of 9,000 beds system-wide. While elected officials such as Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie stated that ineligible claimants to refugee beds were referred to federal resources, I personally found little to no information regarding these supports online.
In fact, I’d argue that the city’s process in handling refugee claimants lacks transparency on both the change in eligibility criteria as well as its repercussions. There’s no data regarding the actual number of those affected by these policies, nor is there documentation of why certain claimants weren’t provided with a bed at Toronto shelters.
It remains unclear whether certain claimants were turned away because there were truly no beds available or if they were simply denied access because of their refugee status. If the latter is true, I believe that this contradicts the city’s responsibility to treat its citizens with dignity regardless of their status.
The report and its reception
Addo’s report not only touches on the discriminatory aspects of the city’s decision but also highlights its shoddy implementation. His findings confirmed that the city’s policy on shelters did not follow a number of city codes when integrating the plan, including the Access T.O. Policy and the Toronto Shelter Standards.
While the Toronto Shelter Standards list that everyone is entitled to shelter services, the Access T.O. Policy takes it one step further. The policy, which was drafted in February 2013 for the protection of undocumented Toronto residents, clearly states that Toronto social services can’t deny service to people on the basis of their immigration status.
Regardless of the intent behind the decision to turn away refugee claimants from shelters, I believe little forethought was given to the precedents set by the city’s accessibility and shelter codes. Even when the initial decision to limit refugee claimants’ access to general shelter beds was formally reversed in July 2023, the reversal wasn’t put into effect for another two months. For those living on the streets, two months is an eternity.
Addressing budgetary constraints
It’s for these reasons that I think City Manager Paul Johnson’s response to the Ombudsman’s investigation into the city’s decision on refugee beds is so disappointing. In a letter from late November 2024, Johnson patently rejected the recommendations included in Addo’s report, marking the first time that the Toronto public service denied an ombudsman’s findings in its entirety.
Addo offered a prime opportunity for the city to recognize and try to rectify its mistake. Instead, Johnson merely claimed that the tone of the report was accusatory.
It’s disappointing to think that our public officials have turned their backs on those most in need of assistance. Yet, Toronto’s failure to acknowledge the long-term repercussions of its decision — as well as its refusal to integrate actionable change — is all the more egregious.
A city that can afford to spend millions in extra services to accommodate mega pop-star Taylor Swift can also locate the funds required to house its growing refugee population. Toronto’s 2024 Capital Budget for TSSS totaled $693.616 million. Of this number, $131.1 million was directed towards aiding refugee claimants and the total provisions included in the TSSS budget ranged from emergency shelter services to street outreach and encampment response teams.
For comparison, the 2024 budget for the Toronto Police Service exceeded one billion dollars, making policing costs the city’s second most expensive taxpayer-funded item, just behind public transit. How I see it, it’s not a matter of whether we have the means, but more so about where we choose to direct our support.
I don’t deny that the Toronto shelter system was likely under immense strain when it began turning away refugee claimants. I am also not convinced that this decision was made with the explicit goal of displacing racialized people — that shouldn’t be the takeaway of this article.
What I take issue with is the lack of due process employed by the city, as well as its refusal to hold itself accountable even when given the option to do so. We simply can’t afford to cower in the face of an “accusatory” report, as Johnson claims, when there are lives on the line. After all, a city which purports to commit to equity has a duty to uphold it.
Emma Dobrovnik is a fourth-year student at St. Michael’s College studying political science and criminology. She is the president of the Association of Political Science Students and a Domestic Affairs columnist for The Varsity’s Opinion section.
