Hotel rooms for refugees just for short-term help, says Ottawa

A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says Monday's tender for 150 hotel rooms in the Fredericton area doesn't mean there's a shortage of housing for incoming Syrian refugees.

Nor does it mean there are more refugees on the way than the initial 1,500 targeted for New Brunswick, said Michel Cimpaye, a communications officer for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

• Feds issue tender for 150 hotel rooms in Fredericton area for refugees

The government tender calls for 150 rooms for 450 people, plus meals.

Currently, 928 refugees out of 1,500 have settled in the province.

Cimpaye said, in an email, the target of 1,500 is expected to be reached by the end of February.

He said the tender, which ends Thursday, has been called in case the local service groups placing refugees in homes need temporary help.

"We are working collaboratively with our partners to track and adjust the flow of Syrian refugees to the various welcoming cities," said Cimpaye.

"In fact, to ensure that we can anticipate and better respond to pressures on housing capacity, we hold daily calls with Service Providing Organizations who are responsible for finding temporary hotel spaces and permanent accommodation for refugees."

Part of this help is making sure hotels are available right away in the area, as the local groups continue the hard search for permanent housing.

"Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is soliciting bids for these hotels and will manage the contracts we set up until the Resettlement Assistance Program Service Provider Organizations are able to move Syrian refugees from these temporary accommodations," said Cimpaye.

Hotel offers rooms

One hotel in Fredericton has already expressed a willingness to provide rooms.

Mostofa Kamal, owner of the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel Fredericton said he was contacted Monday about that possibility by the federal government.

"We have almost 100 rooms here, so we can handle 40 to 50 families in here at least," said Kamal. "I'm giving them priority in order to accommodate them in here."

The hotel has previously worked with the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, providing temporary residence for refugees. 

"We have a little bit of experience in that cultural context, their food habits, their religion," said Kamal. "So we understand them very well." 

For Kamal, this is much more than just a business, and he says he's offered a substantial discount on the rooms.

"I'm not looking to make profit, or business. It's kind of a social responsibility. I'm doing as much as I can do for them," he explained.

"Since they are coming into our country, we have to mentor them, we have to give them guidance, to build them up and make them our strength in this country," said Kamal. "Once they are here we have to look after them."  

One option that is not on the table for housing is using facilities at nearby CFB Gagetown for temporary housing.

Shortly before refugees started to arrive last fall, houses at Camp Argonaut on the base were being upgraded.

Camp Argonaut was used in 1999 to house refugees from Kosovo.

"At present, no refugees are scheduled to arrive at any CFBs." Cimpaye wrote.

​