Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is calling for housing supplements to get asylum claimants out of shelters, a strategy she says would save taxpayers money by reducing crime.

In an interview with The Toronto Star, Chow called on the feds to fund refugee claimants with a monthly $1,000 rent subsidy. 

“They arrive, they show up Pearson, they don’t know where to go, they come downtown to look for a shelter, they end up at the city shelter and we don’t have lawyers to help them get an application forms in (sic),” she said. 

Chow continued, “We would love to have the funds that are provided by the federal government, a portion of it to maybe provide some financial incentives for them to go rent themselves so they don’t need to get into a shelter.”

This would entail that a family of four asylum claimants would receive $4000 every month, while Canadians in shelters remain as put. Chow also suggested giving refugee claimants a loan and making them pay it back.

Currently, about half of Toronto’s shelters are occupied by refugee claimants.

Chow didn’t mention how such a strategy might influence the number of migrants choosing to come to Canada. The mayor said Toronto currently has 6,000 refugee claimants waiting for their claims to be processed, most of whom are either homeless or in shelters. 

Mayor Chow further said that Toronto was built by Irish refugees who were leaving the potato famine, and that “this is no different.” 

The City of Toronto recently announced that undocumented migrants are welcome to live in Toronto, reiterating their commitment to serving as a sanctuary city.

Mayor Chow recently contemplated taxing residents based on the amount of rainwater that falls onto their properties, but this plan was shelved amid international ridicule.