Volunteers, advocacy groups, and community leaders continue their efforts to try to help the refugees who are forced to sleep on the streets of Toronto.
Around 30 refugees have been sleeping on the sidewalk outside the intake center at Richmond and Peter streets for weeks since the city began redirecting refugees to federal programs instead of admitting them into the municipal shelter system in June.
A group of advocates gathered today to demand an immediate solution to the situation of these refugees.
In the absence of a place for these people to go, a private individual, entrepreneur Mohamad Fakih, made a donation of $20,000 today to rent housing for this group of refugees while different levels of government work to address the refugee housing crisis in the city.
On the other hand, 20 community advocacy organizations are calling for the resignation of the head of Toronto's shelter system amid a worsening crisis involving refugees camping on a downtown sidewalk with nowhere to go.
In an open letter published on Monday, the group accused Gord Tanner, the General Manager of Shelter Support and Housing Administration (SSHA), of "repeated mismanagement of the shelter system."
The group stated that, compared to 2018 data, the increase in refugee claimants in May represents only an 11 percent rise.
The letter pointed out that the city is "telling refugees seeking shelter to call Service Canada," a measure that advocates call "cruel and pointless persecution."
The city has accused the federal government of not providing enough money to house the refugees, which is a federal responsibility.
City staff stated that an additional $100 million in federal funding is needed to meet the demand.
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