Toronto: This year’s homeless count proves what we’ve been hearing for a year: That the influx of refugees and asylum seekers have taken a huge toll on Toronto’s shelter system.
The city’s recently released $250,000 Street Needs Assessment (SNA) — conducted the evening of April 26 and the fourth such survey since 2006 — showed that 2,618, or 40%, of the city-administered shelter spaces are occupied by refugees or asylum seekers.
Sadly, the census makes two issues apparent to me:
1: The huge number of refugees occupying shelter beds have forced some homeless into low-barrier (respite) shelters, which are nothing more than costly warehouses, and 2: The city has been pouring so much money into trying to accommodate refugees and asylum seekers that I fear little is left for mental health, affordable housing and job supports for the rest of the homeless population.
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