Quebec is preparing to open the largest reception center for asylum seekers in Montreal, the location of which has been kept secret.
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The asylum seekers, most of whom arrived via the famous Roxham Road, will no longer be occupying their rooms at the Hyatt Hotel on Place Dupuis to settle north of the city from next July. They continue to be housed and fed at public expense, but this time in an office building that has been converted to house them, our Bureau of Investigation has learned.
The building on Rue de Port-Royal Est near the Sauvé metro station in a business park will temporarily accommodate up to 700 applicants in 175 rooms after entry. Their stay usually does not exceed one month, the time for receiving social assistance benefits.
Brand new
It will be the largest reception center for refugees in Montreal, after the YMCA on Tupper Street downtown, where 638 beds are dedicated to them.
Four of the five floors and part of the ground floor of the building on Rue de Port-Royal Est are occupied. The layout will not be luxurious, but it will be renovated. Most rooms do not have private bathrooms.
The CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, which oversees the reception of applicants, wanted to keep the location of the new site secret.
“For reasons of confidentiality and security for asylum seekers, we do not wish to disclose the address of the new location,” CIUSSS spokesman Carl Thériault replied by email to a question about the matter.
However, a cross-check using public documents and interviews allowed us to discover the place where it is located.
5 million dollars a year
The building is owned by the Montreal real estate company Rodimax, owned by the Di Zazzo family. Rodimax won a Quebec public tender late last year. The contract value is US$5 million per year for 10 years.
Still, this is a saving compared to the 200 rooms currently rented at the Hyatt Hotel on Place Dupuis, whose annual bills reach $9 million.
All of these accommodation costs are reimbursed by the federal government, which covers costs associated with refugee applicants who arrive in Quebec in a number not seen in five years. In 2022 we had recorded almost 31,000 illegal entries via Roxham Road at the end of October and we were heading for a record year.
When we visited two weeks ago, workers were busy tearing down the walls and ceilings on the second floor of the building before moving on to the upper floors. The rooms were originally scheduled to be ready later this month, but there have been delays in obtaining the necessary permits for the project.
Photo Jules Richer
The building on Rue de Port-Royal Est is being renovated.
NEW ACCOMMODATION CENTER
- 110,000 square meter area
- 700 beds spread over 175 rooms
- Four Single beds per room
- Sanitary installations communities
- A gender neutral bathroom per floor
- Rental costs: 5 million dollars per year
Source: Call for tenders CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
Under contract with the migration aid
The real estate company that won the tender to house asylum seekers isn’t its first experience with the government agency that manages Montreal’s refugee reception.
In an interview, the Vice President of Rodimax, Alessandro Di Zazzo, indicated that he was already familiar with the Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers (PRAIDA), since since last year he has been renting an office in the organization building his company is next to the building intended for refugees on rue de Port-Royal Est.
Photo from LinkedIn
Alessandro di Zazzo
Rodimax Vice President
It is the PRAIDA that, through the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal on which it depends, has defined the parameters of the new accommodation center in the tender won by Rodimax.
room problem
Two other bidders also participated in the CIUSSS tender. We were able to reach one of them. It is one of the managers of Hotel Espresso, Paolo Di Vito.
Photo from the Electronic Tendering System (SEAO)
Mr. Di Vito stated that he wanted to convert his hotel in downtown Montreal to accommodate refugees. However, his offer was rejected as the hotel rooms are not large enough to accommodate four single beds at a time, as stated in the advertisement.
Photo from the Electronic Tendering System (SEAO)
Migrants are accommodated four per room in single beds.
For his part, Mr. Di Zazzo recalled that his company was interested in the project since it already had vacant premises. The COVID-19 pandemic, he notes, has severely reduced demand for office space in Montreal.
Wide zoning
“There was a call for tenders and we decided on an offer because the municipal land use plan allowed it. [pour l’immeuble de la rue de Port-Royal]. It’s a fairly broad zoning that allows for offices, hotel services and industry,” notes Mr. Di Zazzo.
“It’s a project, he adds, situated in the new economy, the economy of social diversity. It also helps people arriving in the country; they need to be welcomed. »
NUMBER OF MIGRANTS WHO WILL BE TEMPERED BY PRAIDA* IN MONTREAL
2016: 2217
2017: 15,864
2018: 18,240
2019: 19,310
2020: 4148
2021: 2699
2022**:14,693
* Regional reception and integration program for asylum seekers
** Until November
An influx to be expected on Roxham Road
Screenshot from PressReader
Some American media, such as the New York Post, fear a traffic jam at the Mexican border the day after tomorrow.
A large wave of refugee applicants could enter the United States via the Mexican border as early as Wednesday, which is expected to impact Roxham Road barring a last-minute court ruling.
Due to COVID-19, refugee arrivals from Washington had been significantly slowed to counteract the risk of contagion from certain countries. Around 2.5 million asylum seekers have been rejected since March 2020.
The entry restriction measure passed by the Trump administration and then upheld by Joe Biden, dubbed Title 42 (Title 42), was overturned by a federal judge in early November because the decline in the pandemic no longer warranted it. The judge gave the US government until December 21 to comply.
“major catastrophe”
A week ago, prosecutors in 19 Republican-controlled US states appealed to uphold Title 42. They fear a “big catastrophe”. Her application was denied on Friday. They are now turning to the US Supreme Court for a ruling.
Already last week, asylum seekers had gathered at the Mexican border, particularly the border with Texas, in light of the lifting of Title 42.
It is difficult to predict how this influx will affect Roxham Road entrances, but it is almost certain that there will be an impact. A large proportion of the asylum seekers using it initially crossed the Mexican border, as several reports have shown in recent years.
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