Almost 900 asylum seekers remain in hotels in Windsor

Just under 900 asylum seekers are still living in hotels in Windsor as they wait for their refugee claims to be processed.

The asylum seeks were transported to Windsor earlier this year as the federal government had to contend with an influx in asylum claimants, the majority intercepted at the Quebec and New York border, specifically at the irregular crossing at Roxham Road.

Stephen Lynn, Manager of Social Policy and Planning for the City of Windsor, says that would mean approximately 38 per cent of the transfers that were brought here have left the hotels and gone elsewhere.

Windsor has not received any more claimants since the end of March, when the federal government negotiated a deal with the U.S. to turn away asylum seekers at unofficial border crossings like Roxham Road, closing a loophole in the Safe Third Country Agreement.

That agreement assumes that Canada and the U.S. are "safe" countries for would-be refugees. 

It also forces asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in the first country they enter, Canada or the U.S., and prohibits them from crossing the border to file a claim.

Lynn says the asylum seekers are at various stages of the process which includes the immigration paperwork for their refugee status and applying to receive social assistance from Ontario Works, which is delivered by the City of Windsor.

"They are also applying for a work permit. There's a whole bunch of steps required in order for them to do that. The ultimate goal would be for them to be working while they're waiting for a decision on their file," he says.

The federal government is responsible for housing the asylum claimants while the provincial government is responsible for supporting them through various programs.

Lynn says in terms of the long-term goal, the city is taking their lead from the federal government when it comes to the timeline of supporting the asylum claimants in the hotels.

He says for however long they're here, they want to make sure they're successful in accessing any of the benefits or programs they're eligible for.

"We hope that they can be productive members of society," says Lynn. "If they want to work, go to school, learn English as a second language as an adult, get their children into education. All of those things that are open to them, and available to them and able to do."

In late March, city council approved sending a letter to Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada stating Windsor doesn't have the capacity or resources to support any additional asylum claimants beyond those already in temporary accommodations.

The letter was approved just days before the deal was reached to close the crossing at Roxham Road.

A letter was also sent to several government agencies for additional assistance, which resulted in an increase in funding to support on the ground efforts to support the refugees while the City of Windsor's Department of Ontario Works received a one-time funding increase to support the on-going additional case load. 

The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County was also identified as the lead settlement agency to support the asylum claimants.

Lynn stresses there has been so much cooperation and collaboration between the various programs and agencies at the municipal, provincial and federal level to handle this situation as best they can.