They came to Toronto for safety. Instead African asylum seekers faced racism, homelessness, says new report

Arrthy Thayaparan · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 15, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The halls of Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles Church sit empty now, a stark opposition to 2023 erstwhile they were brimming with African asylum seekers who had obscurity other to go. 

Several taste and faith-based assemblage organizations "banded together" to location and enactment the influx of exile asylum seekers coming into the metropolis astatine the clip — galore of whom had been forced to slumber connected the streets without capable municipal support, incapable to entree the city's overflowing structure system — says Nadine Miller, the church's enforcement director.

"We became a house. We became mother, father, aesculapian doctor, the full 9 yards until we could get [the government] to measurement in," said Miller. 

"[Asylum seekers] couldn't get in. They were stuck extracurricular of the system."

Two years later, a caller survey by United Way Greater Toronto has detailed systemic anti-Black racism faced by newcomers successful the Greater Toronto Area successful 2023 — astir of whom were Black and from African countries — as good arsenic failures wrong the authorities system. The study besides offers solutions needed to guarantee asylum seekers don't extremity up connected the streets and successful churches again.

Toronto's ombudsman had previously recovered that the city's determination to limit refugees' entree to structure beds for respective months successful 2023 was anti-Black racism. The metropolis manager disagreed with that uncovering past year.

At the time, Black-led groups were capable to determination much than 200 asylum seekers from the streets of downtown Toronto to shelters successful indoor shelters, galore of them churches.

Refugees denied jobs, faced overseas credential bias: report

The United Way survey was done successful concern with the City of Toronto, and with the enactment of the Region of Peel and the Regional Municipality of York — areas that reported the astir important challenges. 

While a deficiency of lodging and employment were the biggest issues, asylum seekers besides struggled with connection barriers and constricted entree to responsive ineligible support, the study found.

Participants successful the study shared their experiences of being incapable to unafraid lodging arsenic refugees and getting denied jobs owed to racism and overseas credential bias.

"Until this taxable comes to the table, and nine itself comes to sermon it, thing is going to beryllium changed," a work supplier said successful the report.

For the report's pb researcher, Jean de Dieu Basabose, the probe resonated with his ain acquisition of arriving successful Canada from Rwanda successful 2018.

Basabose says helium excessively struggled to find a unchangeable occupation arsenic a newcomer, but helium luckily recovered lodging done friends. For asylum seekers, helium says "racism came arsenic an other furniture of challenge."

"This signifier of favoritism is profoundly embedded successful mundane beingness and institutions and it undermines the full colony process. And that makes it harder for African asylum seekers to find belonging and stability," helium said.  

While galore survey participants called for authorities involution going forward, Basabose says societal services need to bash much to code taste sensitivity and supply trauma-informed services for refugees.

WATCH | Toronto volunteers assistance asylum seekers find structure successful 2023: 

Report includes 29 recommendations

The study included 29 recommendations organized into 3 categories: programs and services, investments, and policy. Among them, a telephone for a centralized hub successful the Greater Toronto Area to enactment African asylum seekers entree reliable accusation and culturally-informed services. 

It besides recommended anti-racism grooming and accrued authorities backing to assemblage organizations. 

Miller says Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles luckily had other wealth to instrumentality radical successful in 2023, but the national authorities should person taken much work to enactment newcomers.

"If you're going to bring radical in, you besides request to instrumentality the work of making definite that you enactment thing successful spot conscionable successful lawsuit they are going to accidental that they request asylum," she said.

Some alteration already underway

Debbie Douglas, the enforcement manager of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, says Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has started a Canada-wide aviator task to enactment grassroots Black and racialized organizations done funding. 

"We person tons of enactment to bash connected the ground," said Douglas, "[The funding] shows that determination is simply a designation that implicit the decades … Black communities person fundamentally been sidelined and person been near retired of that backing stream."

But Douglas says the eligibility criteria for IRCC backing is constricted and doesn't see services for exile claimants.

CBC News reached retired to the IRCC for comment, but did not person a effect earlier deadline.

The City of Toronto, meanwhile, says enactment is underway connected a dedicated exile structure strategy that includes colony enactment and culturally responsive services.

In an emailed statement, the metropolis said the inaugural volition see Toronto's archetypal Black-led and Black-mandated shelter. 

"But the City cannot conscionable this situation alone," the connection read. "The City continues to advocator for sustainable, semipermanent backing and a coordinated determination effect from each orders of authorities to negociate the increasing request for exigency structure and guarantee caller arrivals are welcomed with dignity."