The federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has responsibility for refugees and asylum seekers, prides itself on its record of accepting those fleeing oppression even as it tries to tighten its border with the United States.
But Toronto, Canada's largest city, says Ottawa has not provided anywhere near enough money to keep shelters open.
At the end of 2022, Canada had more than 70,000 pending refugee claims.
Almost 40,000 asylum seekers entered Canada through irregular border crossings from the United States last year -- nine times higher than in 2021 when COVID-19 related restrictions were enforced.
In March, the United States and Canada changed a two-decade-old refugee agreement as part of an attempts to reduce the influx across the world's largest land border.
Persons:
Marco Mendicino's, Soe, Sean Fraser, Justin Trudeau, Kevin Vuong, Trudeau, Fraser, David Ljunggren, Susan Heavey
Organizations:
Rights, Public Safety, REUTERS, Rights OTTAWA, Canadian, Thomson
Locations:
Canada, United States, Toronto , Ontario, Toronto, Canada's, Ottawa, COVID, Quebec