Canada’s reduced refugee targets ‘wise’ for housing stability: UNHCR

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of cabinet Monday in Ottawa.

It is wise of Canada to scale back the number of new refugees it plans to resettle if that helps stabilize the housing market and prevents backlash against newcomers, the head of the UN refugee agency said during a visit to Ottawa this week.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of cabinet Monday in Ottawa where the Liberal government pledged $50.4 million in to the agency

His visit comes a little more than a week after the federal government announced plans to cut overall immigration levels by 20 per cent for 2025 — a cut that includes refugees and protected persons.

The government cited pressures on available housing as one of the reasons for the new policy.

Grandi says Canada remains a global leader in resettlement, but says that pro-refugee sentiment is fragile in an economic or housing crisis and it would be “really negative” to see it destroyed.

“Without good housing, integration is difficult or threatens social cohesion between residents in Canada who are impacted by the housing crisis and people coming and competing for housing,” he said in an interview Monday.

“I think in these situations, it is wise to put things in order, to stabilize, to consolidate, because otherwise you have high numbers coming, — which is great in a global context — but could create problems, could create backlash locally.”

When economic or housing crises strike, integrating refugees has to be handled with extreme care, he said.