COW – Interim Housing Assistance Program Funding for Municipalities – May 28, 2026
- Through the Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP), we're investing in sustainable temporary housing for asylum claimants.
- Provinces, territories, and municipalities manage shelters. IHAP provides funding based on local needs and priorities, including reception centres and transitional housing.
- Since 2019, we've invested about $1.9B.
- The Spring Economic Update 2026 includes $564M to extend IHAP through 2030.
- Asylum claims and temporary housing pressures are declining.
- We continue to monitor pressures and work with partners.
Agreements with individual municipalities
- Funding decisions are based on need, value for money, and expected results.
- Demand for funding exceeded the available program funding.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has finalized IHAP agreements with a number of municipalities and provinces for 2025–2027.
- This includes Ottawa, Peel, Toronto, Waterloo, Durham, Halton, Simcoe County, London, Hamilton, York, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick.
IRCC-funded hotels
- IRCC-funded hotels were a temporary emergency measure to help jurisdictions manage high shelter demand.
- All IRCC-funded hotels for asylum claimants closed by October 1, 2025.
- Between 2020 and 2025, these hotels provided temporary accommodations to about 61,000 asylum claimants.
- Since 2020, temporary accommodation cost totaled about $1.2B, including accommodations, meals, security, service providers, and transportation.