Canada will stop funding hotel accommodations for asylum seekers on Sept. 30, ending a program that has cost taxpayers $1.1 billion since 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced this week.
The federal government currently houses 485 asylum seekers in five hotels across Ontario and Quebec, down from a peak of 46 hotels nationwide in late 2023. Officials said the hotel program was always intended as a temporary measure to address unprecedented migration surges.
“This measure was never meant to be permanent, and IRCC is funded to continue hotel operations only until September 30, 2025,” the department said in a statement to CBC News.
The announcement comes as asylum claims soared from 50,365 in 2017 to 173,000 in 2024, overwhelming shelter systems in major cities like Toronto and Montreal. Between January and March 2025 alone, Canada recorded 28,880 new asylum claims.
The hotel program’s end has sparked concern among advocacy groups about potential homelessness. Adaoma Patterson, director of community investments at United Way Greater Toronto, said that asylum seekers face challenges finding landlords willing to rent to them and warned: “Anyone who is not in safe, stable housing, there’s always a risk that their health is compromised.”
Since January 2024, approximately 13,000 asylum claimants have transitioned out of hotels to independent housing after receiving government notices to vacate. The immigration department said it will help the remaining 485 people find long-term housing before the September deadline.
The program’s costs have drawn criticism amid Canada’s housing crisis. At its peak, the government paid an average of $205 per night per hotel room, though costs have since dropped to $132 per day per claimant.
Beyond hotel expenses, Ottawa has provided an additional $1.5 billion to provinces and municipalities through the Interim Housing Assistance Program to support asylum seekers.
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