Documents just released by Immigration show that, over the past year – and in Niagara alone – the feds spent more than $100 million taxpayer dollars on 4,896 asylum seekers.
This equates to $6,000 on each migrant per month.
The release comes after Conservative MP Tony Baldinelli, who represents Niagara Falls, filed an order paper question to Canada’s Immigration department.
Baldinelli asked for a breakdown of how many asylum seekers have been sent to Niagara, and how much the government has spent to house and feed them.
The response from Immigration revealed that, between February 2023 and January 2024, as many as 4,896 asylum seekers were sent to Niagara, costing taxpayers an average of $208 for each individual per day, “which includes rooms, meals, services, and security.”
The response also indicated that that the feds don’t track the refugee claimants after they leave the area.
Each refugee claimant stayed in Niagara hotels for an average of 113 days before moving on to unknown locations. Immigration refused to say which hotels they’re staying at over concerns for their safety.
“Room capacity can vary from one to six claimants per room,” the department stated.
Mayor says situation unsustainable
Niagara has taken on a surge in migrants after the feds bussed them there from Quebec.
Last year, Niagara’s mayor Jim Diodati said the city was reaching its capacity limits, as 2000 hotel rooms were occupied by migrants.
“We’re trying to be good Canadians and do what we always do, which is always lend a hand.” Mayor Jim Diodati said. “But there’s limits to everything that we can physically do.”
“It’s started to have an impact on our community in a lot of ways,” he added.
Conservatives blame immigration system
The Opposition Conservative’s immigration critic, Tom Kmiec, told Global News that Canada’s immigration system is broken.
“Our system was once the envy of the world but is now filled with fraud, chaos, backlogs, and delays, disadvantaging genuine immigrants,” he said.
Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced in January that he was committing another $362 million towards temporary housing (hotels) for asylum seekers.
On Tuesday, The Counter Signal reported that nearly 50,000 failed refugee claimants remain in Canada despite being told their request was denied.
Since closing down the infamous Roxham Road illegal point of border crossing, most refugee claimants now simply book a return trip from outside of Canada with the intention of claiming asylum and missing their return flight.
