The Federal Government has paid $440.9M in compensation to Quebec under the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) for costs incurred between 2017 and 2022.
Key messages
The Government is committed to working collaboratively with provincial and municipal partners to ensure that asylum claimants have access to temporary shelter when they need it.
The governments of Canada and Quebec have a long history of collaborating to advance shared and respective immigration priorities. Quebec has been, and remains a dependable partner in helping support the needs of asylum claimants since 2017.
Since 2017, IRCC has been continuously providing limited temporary accommodations for eligible claimants who otherwise would not have a place to shelter, including in Quebec.
The Government continues to explore options for support to provinces and municipalities that provide housing and services to asylum claimants, going forward; however, we stress that provincial and municipal partners need to do more to adapt to new trends and that solutions for long-term strategies need to come from all levels of government.
If pressed on Quebec’s outstanding ask.
Financial matters should be discussed with respective finance ministers given magnitude of federal financial transfers to Quebec.
If pressed on IHAP payments not being enough given volumes of arrivals
IHAP payments are not based on the volumes of claimants in the province. The program shares interim housing related costs for those provided shelter by PRAIDA, which are not all claimants, given the IRCC hotel presence in recent years, and the fact that many are still finding alternative accommodations.
Supplementary Information
In addition to $440.9M in financial support under IHAP, IRCC has also been backstopping Quebec’s shelter system through hotels since November 2021, first for Covid-related public heath quarantine requirements, then, from October 1, 2022 – present, to accommodate claimants arriving in Quebec when PRAIDA reaches its capacity of 1150 beds.
Since February 2023, in response to a demand from Quebec, IRCC voluntarily transferred all claimants who require accommodation and were arriving at Roxham Road to IRCC's hotels outside Quebec, mainly to municipalities in Ontario and subsequently to Atlantic Canada and British Columbia.
Since June 12, 2023, IRCC committed to temporarily backstopping the Programme régional d'accueil et d'intégration des demanders d'asile (PRAIDA) by housing their overflow from increased airport arrivals in newly acquired IRCC hotel rooms in Quebec as a temporary measure.
As of November 19, 2023, IRCC’s hotel footprint for temporary accommodation was approximately 3,800 rooms across Canada (28 hotels in six different provinces), and we are currently housing approximately 7,000 claimants, including 2,200 in Quebec.
Between June 30, 2022 and November 26, 2023, IRCC transferred 10,527 asylum claimants from Quebec to other provinces, mainly Ontario. However, since June 2023 when volumes of asylum claimants increased significantly in Quebec, IRCC has transferred fewer claimants (293) out of Quebec as IRCC increased its hotel footprint in the Greater Montreal Area to accommodate Quebec arrivals within the province.
In addition to the funding provided under IHAP, there is an outstanding $403.4M ask from Quebec for the federal government to cover non-housing related costs related to asylum claimants in 2021 and 2022. Minister Miller has publically stated that outstanding financial matters should be discussed by respective Finance ministers.
There has recently been renewed interest in Quebec’s media on their outstanding ask, alleging that Canada owes Quebec $460M for expenses related to asylum claimants and Ukrainians, and that the closure of Roxham Road did not solve the asylum surge problem considering the rise of claims at the Montreal airport.
