Influx of asylum seekers to Manitoba putting extra pressure on shelter system, advocates say

A growing number of asylum seekers in Manitoba is driving up demand for services to help them and putting pressure on Winnipeg's already strained shelter system.

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada,185 asylum claimants in Manitoba were processed thisJanuary alone, compared to just 35 in January 2023.

Because these individuals aren't eligible for employment and income assistance, many have been relying on homeless shelters, said Emily Halldorson, humanitarian response specialist with theManitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations.

She says they need legal support and somewhere to live while waiting for their claims to be processed.

"They do need to stay in some form of temporary accommodation and that has fallen to the shelter system to deal with that," she said.

Halldorson said MANSO recently submitted a report to the province outlining some possible ideas for managing this influx of asylum seekers, including creating a shelter or some type of temporary accommodations specifically for these individuals.

Last fall, Winnipeg's Salvation Army said it was adding 60 beds to its Centre of Hope facility to house refugee claimants due to increased demand.

Executive director Mark Stewart said they'vebeen working with theManitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations to connect these refugee claimants with supports, but said they also have to keep up with the needs of their other clients.

"The challenges is that we're seeing, in our building right now, over 400 people a day, so everything is fairly tight right now," he said.

"We haven't stopped our regular services just to do refugee work, so we still service people that live in our community that are experiencing emergency shelter needs as well."

Stewart said the shelter is hoping to add an additional 80 beds to keep up with the demand.

The provincialgovernment is "committed to finding housing solutions for all Manitobans, including those who have just arrived," Bernadette Smith,the provincial minister of housing, addictions and homelessness, said in a statement sent to CBC News on Monday evening.

The province provided funding in October for the 60 additional beds at Salvation Army's Centre for Hope, Smith said.

"We will continue to work with settlement agencies to provide safe transitional and permanent housing."

Nowhere else to go

Paul Kambaja, a teacher originally from Congo, also known as Congo-Kinshasa, who advocates for newcomers and refugees in the city, said he recently met with some of theasylum seekers who have been staying at Salvation Army.

He said they told him they have mostly been left to fend for themselves while waiting for their claims to be processed.

Kambaja said he worries the downtown shelter might not be the best place for these refugees who are unfamiliar with the city, but unfortunately, theyhave nowhere else to go.

"For these newcomers to be in that place without even speaking the language, without knowing the culture of the city, I think it's not the right place for them, because we are setting them up for something bad [to] happen."

These individuals would typically be housed through non-profits focusing on newcomers, but lately everywhere has been full, said Elodie Furaha, a resettlement co-ordinator for Hospitality House Refugee Ministry, which sponsors refugees to come to Canada.

That makes it difficult for themto start their new lives in Canada, Furaha said.

"You cannot even go to [English] class when you don't have any place to go back to sleep or to lay your head," she said.

Furaha said she hopes the provincial and federal governments can find new ways to support these asylum seekers.

"We really don't know the solution, but something has to be figured out."

Influx of asylum seekers to Manitoba putting extra pressure on shelter system, advocates say

8 months ago

Duration 2:29

A growing number of asylum seekers in Manitoba is driving up demand for services to help them and putting pressure on Winnipeg's already strained shelter system.