CIMM – Quebec Asylum – November 25, 2024

Key Facts and Figures

• The federal government has provided a total of $440.9M in compensation to the Province of Quebec under the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP) for costs incurred between 2017 and 2022.
• On June 10, 2024, the federal government announced a pledge of $750M to the Government of Quebec, recognizing Quebec's substantial contribution to supporting asylum claimants.

Key Messages

• The government is committed to working collaboratively with all partners to support long-term solutions to addressing the housing needs of asylum claimants.
• 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, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been continuously providing temporary accommodations for eligible claimants who otherwise would not have a place to shelter, including in Quebec.
• In June 2024, the Government of Canada agreed to provide Quebec $750M in recognition of the costs borne by the province in supporting asylum claimants between 2021 and 2023.
• The government is also working closely with provinces and territories to explore options for relocating asylum claimants from population centres in Quebec and Ontario to other regions across Canada.

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, but on costs incurred and planned activities. The program covers interim housing-related costs of claimants provided shelter by the Programme régional d'accueil et d'intégration des demandeurs d'asile (PRAIDA).

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 to present, to accommodate claimants arriving in Quebec when PRAIDA reaches its capacity of 1,150 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.
• Following the implementation of the Additional Protocol of the Safe Third Country Agreement on March 25, 2023, the volume of asylum claimants entering Canada between ports of entry has significantly decreased, most notably at Roxham Road near Lacolle, Quebec.
• As of October 31, 2024, the Department is directly housing approximately 4,500 claimants, including approximately 60 in Quebec.
• Between June 30, 2022 to present, IRCC transferred approximately 10,640 asylum claimants from Quebec to other provinces, mainly Ontario.
• In recognition of the housing and other costs associated with the influx of asylum claimants (largely at Roxham Road) between 2021 and 2023, the Government of Canada reached an agreement with the Government of Quebec in June 2024 (announced by the Prime Minister and Premier Legault) with a pledge to provide $750M in federal funding, a portion of which will be covered by IHAP. This builds on a previous public commitment to provide Quebec with $150M through IHAP. The Government of Quebec had been seeking $1B in federal reimbursement.
• Approximately $67M of the $750M committed has already flowed to Quebec under IHAP for costs identified in 2021 and 2022; the remaining funds will flow through IHAP for 2023 and 2024 expenses and a one-time grant payment in the amount of $581.3M, which was recently tabled in Parliament as a part of Supplementary Estimates (B).