Ford walks back pledge to issue work permits to asylum seekers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has walked back last week's pledge to wrestle some control away from the federal government to issue work permits to asylum seekers.

He did not explain why he changed his mind.

"I don't want to take the responsibility off the federal government, but in saying that, if you have a pulse and you're healthy, you need to be working," Ford said Monday.

Ford and the rest of the country's premiers said at their gathering last week they wanted more control over immigration, usually a purview of the federal government.

The Ontario premier pointed to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who cited Section 95 of the Constitution that they believed gave provinces the power to make decisions on immigration.

"We will be issuing our own work permits," Ford said last week when all the premiers met in Huntsville, Ont.

He said the federal government was taking up to two years to issue work permits to asylum seekers.

But Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said work permits are usually processed within 45 days of an asylum claimant submitting a completed application that includes a medical examination and an updated address.

"The Government of Canada will continue to work collaboratively with provinces and territories to achieve our shared economic immigration objectives," said Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesman for the department.

He said immigration is within both federal and provincial jurisdictions, and Ottawa enters into legally binding agreements with each province and territory to administer, co-ordinate and implement federal legislation on immigration.

MacDonald said the department is still in the midst of planning immigration levels from 2026 to 2028 with input from all provinces and territories.

NDP leader says Ford should focus on what he can control

Despite Ford's change of mind, he still said the federal government is taking far too long to issue work permits. He said 70,000 work permits were issued to asylum claimants last year, but there were 90,000 such claimants in the province and he wants the backlog cleared.

New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles said Ford needs to focus on the problems he can control.

"He wants to talk about a whole bunch of stuff that is not his responsibility in the first place," Stiles said.

"I think that the premier needs to start actually showing up for work for the people of this province and that means showing up to fix our health-care system, showing up to address the crumbling infrastructure in this province, showing up for the post-secondary institutions."

Feds to stop paying for hotel rooms for asylum seekers

Ford's comments come as the IRCC recently announced that funding for hotel rooms for asylum seekers will end after September. 

As of Thursday, the federal government was housing 485 asylum seekers in five hotels in Ontario and Quebec, with Ottawa spending about $1.1 billion on temporary hotel housing since 2020, an IRCC spokesperson said in an email to CBC News last week.

Ford told reporters Monday he was "very concerned" about the funding cut, which he said Prime Minister Carney had not mentioned at last week's premiers' meeting.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said last week that 150 people are being turned away from city shelters every month and the city needs support from other levels of government in getting asylum seekers housed when they leave their hotels.

"By God, I don't know where we're going to put them," Chow said.

The IRCC spokesperson told CBC News last week that the funding was only ever meant to be temporary, and the department will help those still in hotels find housing.

Experts and advocates have said that could be a tough task in cities with high demand and low supply. They include Nadine Miller, executive director of Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles Church, which took in dozens of refugees in Toronto two years ago as shelters overflowed.

"What they need to do is actually put something in place to make sure refugees don't fall on their face," said Miller. "We've been picking up the pieces since 2023."

Miller said asylum seekers need more permanent housing solutions, with wrap-around services.

"Get their paperwork processed faster. That's the biggest problem they're having," she said. "If you sit in a hotel for two, three, four months or even a year, and you don't have a work permit, what that does for you is you're no further than the day you came in."