Etobicoke’s Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles is one of three Black churches receiving $1.4 million for helping refugees.
An Etobicoke church is one of three sharing $1.4 million for helping to shelter hundreds of refugees and newcomers last year.
The City has authorized the payment of $1.44 million to three churches that includes Etobicoke’s Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, Dominion Church International and Revival Time Tabernacle for sheltering the mostly African refugees.
Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, on Albion Road, has stood as a sanctuary for thousands of African immigrants since its inception in 2002, according to its website.
More than 6,000 refugees and newcomers are in City shelters after arriving in Canada.
Leadership at the church bought 60 brand new mattresses and bedding when it was called upon to help. A restaurant run by the church was also closed to the public due to feeding the refugees.
The City last month authorized a payment to Toronto Shelter and Support Services to reimburse Black churches and organizations for sheltering hundreds of newcomers.
Many of the newcomers braved the cold and rain to camp outside a downtown social services agency in tents and sleeping bags due to a lack of beds in shelters.
The federal government has allocated more than $1 billion over three years to help newly arriving refugees.
Several of them died in Mississauga due to sleeping outside in the freezing weather.
Toronto has seen an increased arrival of asylum claimants, which has challenged its shelter system.
In the 20 months leading up to May, the number of asylum claimants requesting shelter from the city grew 500 per cent, from a low of 530 people per day in September 2021 to more than 2,800 per day.
The City said Toronto’s shelter system continues to be full and as of March 2024, with some 12,295 people in the shelter and other programs; of which more than 6,312 are refugee claimants. In September 2021, the number of refugee clients in the shelter system was 546.
Dozens of the refugees and newcomers were sleeping outside a downtown shelter due to a lack of beds.
“The system was particularly tested in late spring and summer of 2023, when the speed and scope of refugee claimant arrivals far exceeded the City’s capacity to respond,” according to a report.
“This contributed to unfortunate circumstances in front of the City’s assessment and referral centre on Peter Street.”
It said Black-led churches and community organizations stepped up, opening their doors to provide shelter and supports to hundreds of refugee claimants who were arriving to Toronto homeless.
The Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, on Albion Road, was reimbursed for sheltering hundreds of the African newcomers.
The City said the eligible expenses incurred to September 2023. In late summer, the City provided $150,000 to three leading churches.
Just last month the federal government in its 2024 Budget announced $1.1 billion over three years to extend a housing assistance program for asylum claimants, plus $274 million over five years for immigration and refugee legal aid.
It also includes $743.5 million over five years to strengthen the asylum system and streamline the claims and removal processes.