Knowing no one, Alhasan arrived in Toronto after a five-hour bus ride one frigid night with just a phone number for the city’s shelter program. Government-assisted refugees automatically find accommodation through settlement services, and privately sponsored refugees are housed by families or community organizations. “These shelters are more crowded than we want them to be,” said Patricia Anderson, manager of the city’s shelter, support and housing administration. “I don’t want to pre-empt that process, and I know that our officials will work with city officials,” she said. Francisco Rico-Martinez, who runs the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto, said one of the reasons behind the refugee increase is illegal border-crossing by people fleeing U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Source: thestar April 26, 2018 17:03 UTC