Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the federal government should give asylum seekers work permits immediately after they arrive in the country. His province has received nearly 5,500 asylum seekers from Quebec since last June.
The leader of the Progressive Conservative government says he wants to take care of these people and create jobs for them. “These people break my heart. They come here to have a better life,” said the Premier of Ontario at a press conference. Three quarters of them were transported to Cornwall, near the Quebec border, or to Niagara Falls, which now says it needs the hotel rooms in which they are staying for the tourist season.
“We should disperse people in the province,” Doug Ford said.
Coming out of the hotel, there are limited affordable housing options for asylum seekers, a problem that Doug Ford seems to want to partly address through the construction of new homes. During the last election campaign, his government pledged to build 1.5 million new homes over the next ten years. The province has changed several laws to speed up the process in recent months.
“These people need homes. And that’s not counting the 450,000 people who arrive each year,” commented Doug Ford, referring to the number of newcomers across Canada. 431,645 new permanent residents were welcomed to the country in 2022. About 40% of them came to Ontario.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.
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