Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to hotels and accommodations paid for by the government for asylum seekers, since January 1, 2022 and broken down by month: (a) what are the names and locations of the hotels and other accommodations which the government has paid to accommodate asylum seekers; and (b) what are the details of each hotel or accommodation in (a), including, for each, (i) the owner, (ii) the monthly amount paid by the government for accommodation, (iii) how many asylum seekers were accommodated?

With regard to the government’s provision of goods and services to irregular border crossers seeking asylum, since 2015: how many claimants have been provided accommodations in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada operated hotels or similar types of accommodations, broken down by month and province?

With regard to refugee claimants in Canada, broken down by year since 2016: (a) how many individuals claimed refugee protection; (b) what was the average time between the submission of a refugee claim and the hearing date before the Immigration and Refugee Board; (c) how many refugee claimants were receiving government-supported housing and financial assistance; (d) what is the government's estimate of the average cost per claimant, for government-provided supports, including housing, income assistance and health care services; and (e) what is the breakdown of (a) through (d) by province or territory where the individual was located?

With regard to federal funding provided for the housing of asylum claimants, and in light of the government's statements that federal funding for hotel accommodations for asylum claimants ceased as of September 30, 2025: (a) since September 30, 2025, what federal programs, initiatives, contribution agreements or other funding mechanisms have been used to subsidize, reimburse, or otherwise support the cost of rental housing, including apartments or other long-term accommodations, for asylum claimants, whether directly or indirectly; (b) of the housing supports in (a), which involve the federal government (i) covering the full cost of rent, (ii) covering a portion of rent costs, (iii) providing rent subsidies, top-ups, or housing allowances, and what are the terms and conditions associated with each; (c) for each such program or funding mechanism, what eligibility criteria apply to asylum claimants, including, but not limited to, immigration status, length of stay, income thresholds, family size, geographic location, or availability of provincial or municipal housing supports; (d) which federal department or departments, agencies, or Crown corporations are responsible for administering, funding, or overseeing these housing or rent-support measures, and what role does each play; (e) since September 30, 2025, what is the total amount of federal funding expended on apartment or long-term rental housing for asylum claimants, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) province or territory, (iii) municipality where data is available, (iv) program or funding mechanism; and (f) what proportion of the expenditures outlined in (e) were delivered through direct payments to landlords, payments to third-party service providers or non-governmental organizations, transfers to provinces or municipalities, or payments made directly to asylum claimants?

With regard to asylum claims since 2016, and broken down by year: (a) how many asylum claims were rejected by the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada; (b) how many of the total asylum claimants that have been rejected remained in Canada at year end; and (c) of the rejected asylum claimants in (b), how many were subject to enforceable removal orders at year end?

With regard to the government's announcement in late 2025 that it would stop covering the cost for hotel rooms for asylum seekers: is there any government funding, directly or indirectly, including through any agency or third-party organization, to provide asylum seekers with paid or subsidized accommodations, housing, rentals, apartments, or any other housing configuration provided to individuals who may have previously stayed in hotels reserved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and, if so, what are the details, including the value of the funding, the mechanism and programs through which the funding is occurring, the number of asylum seekers receiving such accommodation, broken down by location and type of accommodation?

With regard to enforceable removal orders for rejected asylum claimants since 2016, and broken down by year: (a) what was the number of (i) total enforceable removal orders issued, (ii) removal orders stayed, (iii) removal orders scheduled, (iv) removals carried out, overall and broken down by type of removal order; and (b) what was the number of removal orders outstanding at year-end?

With regard to the decision of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to no longer publish raw datasets, between January 1, 2025, and September 15, 2025: (a) how many temporary residents were present; (b) how many temporary resident visas were in effect or current; (c) how many temporary resident visas expired; (d) how many temporary residents whose visas expired are estimated to have departed; (e) how many temporary residents whose visas expired filed asylum claims; (f) how many cases of asylum claims by temporary residents were granted; (g) how many cases of asylum claims by temporary residents were rejected; and (h) how many temporary residents whose asylum claims were rejected are estimated to have departed?

With regard to asylum claimants who qualified under the over-14-day exemption to the Safe Third Country Agreement, from 2019 to 2025: (a) how many claimants qualified under the over-14-day exemption, in each of the past five calendar years, broken down by year; (b) how many claims from (a), were processed in each province or territory, broken down by year; (c) how many claims from (a), were from each country of origin, broken down by year; (d) how many claims under the over-14-day exemption (i) were approved, (ii) were denied, (iii) are still under review, (iv) were withdrawn or abandoned, broken down by year; (e) what was the average processing time for claims under the over-14-day exemption, broken down by year; and (f) What measures or processes are in place to verify that claimants meet the requirements of the over-14-day exemption?

With regard to asylum claimants who qualified under the four exception categories to the Safe Third Country Agreement, from 2019 to 2025: (a) how many claimants qualified under each of the following exception categories, broken down by year, including 2025 to date, (i) family member exceptions, (ii) unaccompanied minors, (iii) document holders (valid visa, work permit, study permit, etc.), (iv) public interest exceptions; (b) broken down by each of the exception categories in (a), how many claims (i) were approved, (ii) were denied, (iii) are still under review, (iv) were withdrawn or abandoned; (c) what was the average processing time for claims under each of the exception categories in (a), broken down by year; (d) how many claimants in (a) were from each country of origin, broken down by year; (e) how many claimants in (a) were processed in each province or territory, broken down by exception category and year; and (f) what measures are currently in place to ensure the timely processing of claims under each of the exception categories in (a)?

With regard to the Interim Federal Health Program, since 2016 and broken down by year: (a) how many asylum claimants, whose claim was ultimately rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board, received coverage under the program; (b) of the rejected asylum claimants in (a), how many had an active enforceable removal order; and (c) what were the total annual expenditures associated with Interim Federal Health Program coverage provided to rejected asylum claimants, including all services provided over the full course of their claim, broken down by (i) basic health services, (ii) supplemental health services, (iii) immigration medical exams in Canada, (iv) pre-departure medical services?

With regard to the Interim Federal Health Program: (a) what is the full, detailed schedule of all eligible supplemental services covered; (b) is gender affirming care an eligible service covered through the Interim Federal Health Program, including (i) surgical, (ii) non-surgical, options; and (c) do asylum claimants who have been rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board stop being eligible for these basic and supplemental health services once their claim has been rejected, or do they continue to receive benefits until they leave Canada?