According to numbers tabled in the House of Commons this week, the immigration department extended reservations for 64 hotel rooms from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15, and for 37 rooms until Oct. 29. Twenty-seven asylum seekers are in one hotel funded by the federal government, according to city spokesperson Natasha Hinds Fitzsimmins. In July, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his Progressive Conservative government would no longer cooperate with Ottawa on resettling asylum seekers. In total, 1,394 refugee claimants crossed the border illegally in October, down from the peak of nearly 6,000 in August 2017. In total, just over 17,000 irregular asylum seekers have come to Canada so far this year, compared to 20,593 last year.

Source: National Post November 22, 2018 23:37 UTC