Toronto's handling of refugee crisis was anti-Black racism: ombudsman's report
City Manager Paul Johnson says the report is 'accusatory' in many places
The Toronto ombudsman released a report Thursday finding that the city's decision to limit refugees' access to shelter beds for several months last year was anti-Black racism — but the city manager said he does not agree with the report.
The decision to stop allowing refugees access to non-refugee shelter beds was "poorly thought out, planned for, and communicated," Ombudsman Kwame Addo wrote in the report, which includes 14 recommendations for the city.
But in a letter to Addo dated Nov. 26, City Manager Paul Johnson said he would not take action on the recommendations, subject to city council's decision on the report.
"I do not agree with the findings," Johnson wrote.
Johnson's letter marks "the first time in the history of the Ombudsman's office that the Toronto Public Service has rejected my findings and recommendations in their entirety," Addo wrote in his report.
In November 2022, the city decided to stop allowing refugee claimants access to general shelter system beds, the report says.
The decision was publicly announced six months later in May 2023. According to the report, staff and elected officials said at the time that refugee claimants would be referred to federal supports because of a lack of funding from the province and federal government.
In June 2023, CBC Toronto reported refugees were sleeping on Toronto streets after being turned away from the city's shelter system. Addo said the refugees were predominantly Black and from African countries.
"Many refugee claimants were living on the sidewalk or in make-shift shelters with only limited access to sanitation, food and water," he wrote in his report.
While many were likely turned away because there were no beds available anywhere in the system, Addo wrote that some staff said "at least some" refugee claimants were turned away when shelter beds were available.
At the time, Black community organizations in the city moved more than 200 refugees off the streets into shelters, including several churches.
City staff interviewed for the report said the decision was intended to divert refugees to spaces that provided specialized support, which the general shelter system could not.
"To this, I'd say: it's better to have a bed — any bed — than no bed at all," Addo wrote.
He said the decision was not consistent with the Toronto Housing Charter, which says all people have a right to a safe, secure and affordable home, and also went against the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The city reversed the eligibility change in July 2023, but the report says it took almost another two more months for that decision to be put into effect — a delay Addo called "unacceptable."
The report reviewed the period between April 2022 and October 2023, during which time there were about 1,700 refugee-specific beds out of a total of about 9,000 beds system wide.
Shelter beds that are designated for refugees come along with additional support, Addo said, including legal help and assistance with meeting application deadlines.
It is unclear how many refugee claimants were affected by the eligibility change, as the city did not track this data, the report says.
In a statement Thursday, Mayor Olivia Chow said she looks forward to reading the report, which she said should be a "wake-up call for all orders of governments."
"Refugees have different needs than Toronto's homeless population," she said. "Our services need to reflect this reality and key to this is stable, predictable funding."
In July 2023, Chow apologized to refugees who had been living on sidewalks.
"The way they've been treated on the streets and the lack of dignity that they experience, there's absolutely no excuse whatsoever," she said at the time, while visiting a church where some refugees were sheltering.
City manager says report is 'accusatory is many places'
Among the concerns Johnson listed in his letter, he said the city was dealing with "serious operational pressures" at the time due to a lack of federal funds — a context which he said the report does not understand.
"I'm disheartened that the tone of the report is accusatory in many places," he wrote.
Johnson also said the right to housing as set out in the city's Housing Charter is aspirational, rather than a legal obligation.
In his report, Addo said he recognized Toronto's shelter system was under immense strain due to a lack of federal funding, as well as increasing numbers of refugee claimants.
But he said turning refugee claimants away from the general shelter system was "wrong" and amounted to systemic discrimination and anti-Black racism, as most of the affected refugee claimants came from African countries.
While Addo wrote that he doesn't think city staff intended to discriminate against refugees, under human rights law, "it is the effect or consequences of their actions and policies that matter, not the intent."
Among his recommendations, Addo wrote the city should ensure future changes to refugee shelter eligibility follow the Ontario Human Rights Code and Toronto policy.
Relevant internal experts, including the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit, should review proposed changes, he wrote.
The city should also develop a strategy to engage with refugee claimants and organizations that service them to help plan and deliver shelter services, he wrote, which he recommended me completed by June 1, 2025.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Johnson said the city is already working with refugee organizations. City staff are also subject to mandatory training, he said, responding to Addo's recommendation that staff involved in shelter policy development should undergo mandatory anti-Black racism training.
Addo said he was disappointed with Johnson's letter.
"I stand by my report," he told CBC Toronto. "This is a missed opportunity for the city to implement improvements to service and to ensure fairness and equity within the shelter system."
'Don't be defensive,' church leader tells city
Nadine Miller is the executive director of Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, one of the Toronto churches that sheltered refugees last year.
"The report is accurate, because we lived it," she said.
Miller said she hopes the city will speak to organizations that stepped in during the crisis to learn for the future.
"Don't be defensive," she said. "Hear what we're trying to say, hear what the ombudsman is saying."
Miller added, "Let's work together to create a system that will not let the people hit the ground again."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Chris Glover and Mirna Djukic