Asylum seeker says he was told Hamilton had more space than Toronto. Now he's one of many living in a shelter
CBC
When Cyprin Ontita came to Canada from Kenya a little over a month ago, he said he was "in the dark" about what life would be like as an asylum seeker.
"What you expect when you come from Africa is that you will get a good house. You'll get work. At first, you just don't know," he said.
But when he arrived, first to Quebec City then Toronto, the 37-year-old former youth worker said he found himself sleeping outdoors, unable to access shelter.
Ontita's friend and fellow Kenyan Daniel Wanyeki, 33, said he also spent two days sleeping outside when he arrived in Toronto in June because the shelters there were full.
They both came to Hamilton hoping the situation would be better.
"Someone suggested that in Hamilton there might be some space, and that's why we moved to Hamilton. Hamilton is quite a good town," he said.
The pair are staying at the Good Shepherd — one of several shelters in the city seeing an increasing number of refugees and asylum seekers needing a place to stay.
One fifth of shelters beds in Hamilton are currently filled by refugees and asylum seekers, prompting Mayor Andrea Horwath to say the system is at "risk of collapse" and ask for $9 million from the federal government to help address it.
Hamilton is experiencing a "surge of refugee claimants or asylum seekers," Terri Bedminster, director of operations for Refuge: Hamilton Centre for Newcomers Health, told CBC Hamilton Thursday.
A representative with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said at its Hamilton office, "the phone has been ringing more frequently in the last few weeks."
Bedminster said many asylum seekers first arrive in Toronto — where the shelter systems are overwhelmed and an average of 273 people were turned away every night in June — and then come to Hamilton.
The newcomers think there "may be additional supports here and there are shelters, except that isn't the case — our shelter system is already at its capacity," she said.
Bedminster, along with over a dozen local organizations, came together at the downtown office of local organization Empowerment Squared to offer information on support services for newcomers in Hamilton on Thursday.
"This was a way of bringing all agencies and services together so that we can better coordinate supporting individuals, particularly from Kenya, Uganda," she said, adding that organizations expected to meet with Mexican newcomers later on in the day.
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