City of Toronto invited to discuss refugee pressures at United Nations stakeholder meetings on Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

TORONTO, May 21, 2018 /CNW/ - The City of Toronto participated today in a multi-stakeholder meeting at the United Nations in New York City, where member states are negotiating a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

Representatives of the City's Newcomer Office and Shelter, Support and Housing Administration were invited to share the City's practical experiences in welcoming and housing refugee populations in Toronto at a meeting attended by the President of the General Assembly, Miroslav Lajc?ák, Louise Arbour, Secretary-General of the intergovernmental conference on international migration and William Lacy Swing, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration. The United Nations is currently examining the impact of migration in countries of origin, transit and destination and convened a series of stakeholder meetings to learn what is happening at the local and national levels.

"Many of the families fleeing global circumstances want to rebuild their lives in cities like Toronto, and so we have found ourselves at the forefront of these migration issues," said Mayor John Tory. "I'm proud that the City of Toronto is sharing its experiences in welcoming and housing refugees with the United Nations, and reiterating our request for increased investment and coordination from federal and provincial governments."

The City of Toronto recently requested urgent action from provincial and federal governments to help relieve the pressure on Toronto's shelter system caused by the ongoing influx of refugee claimants.

Refugee claimants now represent more than 40 per cent of Toronto's shelter system, even with more than 1,000 motel beds added to the system to accommodate this demand. Since April, 334 additional refugee claimants have arrived in the City, which is averaging about 10 arrivals per day. Since January 2017, the City has successfully found permanent housing for 1,720 refugee claimants.

The City has requested that federal and provincial governments coordinate and lead the immediate placement of new arrivals to regional locations outside of the City of Toronto's shelter system, as well as dedicated provincial and/or federal staff to facilitate this regional placement; the provision of additional resources, including non-municipal facilities and the staff and human resources to operate them; the introduction of sustainable federal and provincial funding to address increases in housing and shelter demand at the municipal level and reimbursement of all costs incurred by the City for the ongoing housing of refugee claimants.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TorontoComms, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.

SOURCE City of Toronto