CIMM – Funding And Expenditures Details– November 18, 2022

Key Messages

• From April 1, 2017, to September 30, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has incurred expenditures totaling $269.4M for Roxham Road.
• Most significant expenditures relate to interim health services, leases for accommodation, security and transportation services.
• As of 2018-2019, IRCC started receiving funding for Interim Lodging Services (ILS) mainly in Quebec and Ontario. At this time, the Department’s authorities total $149.2M for ILS until September 30, 2022.
• The Department will be seeking additional funding to address the influx of asylum seekers.

Supplementary Messages

Contracts:

• IRCC managed 44 contracts related to Roxham Road for a total value of $85M. Of these, 36 contracts with an aggregate value of $22M were awarded by IRCC and eight contracts with an aggregate value of $63M were awarded by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on behalf of IRCC.
• Of these contracts, 14 for an aggregate value of $37M were awarded following a competitive process and 30 for an aggregate value of $48M were sole sourced.
• All contracts are proactively disclosed as per Treasury Board Secretariat policy guidelines and PSPC procedures.

Leases:

• At this time and including l’Auberge in St-Bernard de Lacolle, Quebec, IRCC is currently using 23 hotel leases for a total of 2400 rooms in order to provide temporary accommodations to asylum claimants who do not have a secure private accommodation or for those awaiting for a space available in the provincial shelters.
• All leases were negotiated through PSPC.

Funding

• Through Budget 2019 and an off-cycle funding request, IRCC has received authorities totaling $149.2M to support interim lodging sites (details can be found in background section below).
• Funding is used to provide temporary accommodations and support services to asylum seekers coming through all of Canada’s points of entry but mainly in Quebec and Ontario.
• Beginning in April 2020, IRCC entered into lease agreements and contracts with hotels and service providers for the purpose of providing temporary accommodations and the basic necessities of life (e.g. meals and basic health services) to asymptomatic asylum claimants who did not have a suitable means to comply with the Order in Council (OiC), which required them to quarantine for 14 days.
• Since the lifting of some COVID-19 related travel restrictions on irregular asylum seekers on November 21, 2021, there has been a rapid and significant increase of asylum claimants arriving between the ports of entry at Roxham Road in Quebec. Consequently, the Department has rapidly expanded its accommodations capacity in the province of Quebec, as well as the province of Ontario, to provide temporary accommodations to the increased volume of asylum claimants, including both vaccinated and unvaccinated claimants.
• Due to the increased number of arrivals and in order to fulfill the commitments made to the province of Quebec, IRCC has significantly increased its temporary accommodations capacity since April 2020.
• Despite the COVID-19 border restrictions being removed, there is a continued need for IRCC to provide temporary housing to asylum claimants as provinces, Quebec in particular, do not have the capacity or resources to accommodate more claimants, especially with volumes currently experienced.
• As of October 1, 2022, the purpose of IRCC hotels is to now provide temporary accommodations to asylum claimants who do not have accommodation options available to them, while they await transfer to the provincial shelter system or secure private accommodations.
• The Department will be seeking additional funding to address the influx of asylum seekers.

Supporting Facts And Figures

• A breakdown of the $269.4M expenditures is available as an annex.

Background

Note: prior to 2018-2019, ILS funding was embedded in the irregular migration envelope.

Amounts in Canadian currency and include taxes