Ottawa ends funding for asylum seekers' hotel rooms after seven years, $1.2 billion

The federal government is on the verge of phasing out a program that sees asylum seekers stay in hotels on Ottawa’s dime. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has said that funding will end in September.

According to IRCC, the government is currently housing close to 500 asylum seekers in five hotels in Ontario and Quebec, far fewer than the 2023 peak at hotels across Canada. It has spent more than $1.2 billion on temporary hotel housing since 2020. ---More...