TORONTO — The Syrian refugee crisis and the way it has spurred Canadians into action has been voted the top story of 2015 by The Canadian Press.
But supporters of Syrian migrants who were privately sponsored said after all the cameras and microphones are gone, those new Canadians are having a hard time finding homes in their country — creating a real struggle for resettlement groups.
The Armenian Community Centre near Victoria Park and Highway 401 just received about 100 new refugees on Tuesday, bringing their total to about 500 so far.
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They’re expecting to handle a total of at least 2,500 cases, and they’re being processed faster than initially expected.
“We were expecting this kind of large group, because obviously, we did the applications,” said volunteer Lena Ohanassian. “But not in such a short time.”
Now the group is scrambling to help a glut of hundreds of Syrians find apartments.
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Because these migrants are privately sponsored, they’re not entitled to the same government funding as others; such as rent money.
Without an employment record and no guaranteed income, Ohanassian said landlords don’t trust the refugees they deal with and often demand illegal deposits from their guarantors.
“They’re asking for four, six months’ rent in advance, which is not realistic,” said Ohanassian; frustration clear in her face.
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It’s a problem tenant rights advocate Geordie Dent said he often sees with immigrants, only exacerbated by the recent influx of Syrians fleeing a warzone.
“It’s totally illegal,” said the Executive Director of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations.
“It shouldn’t be happening to anyone, whether they’ve been living here for 40 years, or whether they’re an immigrant, or whether they’re a refugee.”
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In the meantime, the Armenian Community Centre is putting any refugees who don’t have family to stay with into rooms in a nearby hotel; but it can’t afford that forever.
“We need help,” urged Ohanassian. “We need help from the government. That is the key.”
Without that help, she said it could be quite some time before many of these new Canadians have a place of their own.
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