Traffic on Roxham Road is such that more than 3,600 asylum seekers are currently being housed and cared for in 20 hotels and one temporary accommodation facility in the greater Montreal area.
“You could say we’re overwhelmed. We don’t have anyone on our organization chart who takes care of migrants,” said Andrée Bouchard, mayor of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
Andrée Bouchard, Mayor
In this city alone, the 112 rooms of the Quality Hotel have been used continuously to accommodate migrants for more than a year, despite the limited resources available (see further text below).
A total of 2,475 asylum seekers were living in government-funded hotels as of early March, according to Immigration Canada.
While most are based near Dorval Airport and downtown Montreal, they will also be based in hotels in Brossard, Boucherville, or Laval.
10% of the rooms
Currently, the federal government has 2,164 rooms in the metropolitan area, or about 10% of the 20,000 rooms in the region, for rent, according to the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal.
Several Ottawa facilities are fully booked for the coming weeks, making it difficult to host sports tournaments (see further text below).
In addition, there are the 1,200 beds of the regional program for the reception and integration of asylum seekers (PRAIDA), which, according to spokesman Carl Thériault, is at full capacity.
Those numbers would have been higher if hundreds of people who arrived via Roxham hadn’t recently been relocated to Ontario to relieve the intake system here.
Ali (free name), an asylum seeker from Nigeria, lives in one of the rooms of a hotel off the A-520 in Montreal.
“I’m treated like a king here,” says the man who fled his country with his wife at the risk of their lives.
Photo Nora T Lamontagne
Luis, originally from Venezuela, munched at a hotel in Pointe-Claire while waiting for work.
However, strict rules apply to newcomers during their temporary accommodation, and a security guard is posted in the lobby of each facility (see additional text below).
In nothing
Migrants also regret being in the void.
“I don’t know why they don’t give us any information. We just want to work and not be a burden to society,” says Josué, 35, from Spain, who arrived from Venezuela more than a month ago.
The latter is twiddling his thumbs in a hotel in the west of the island, waiting for his work permit.
Generally, asylum seekers leave the hotel after two or three months after receiving their approval or financial support from the government.
– With Nicolas Brassard and Jules Richer
♦ Given the influx of migrants, Justin Trudeau said he plans to raise the issue of irregular entry during his meeting with Joe Biden later this month.
ASYLUM SEEKERS RESIDENT BETWEEN JANUARY AND NOVEMBER 2022
- In Quebec : 24,385
- In Ontario: 3980
2022 RCMP interceptions in Quebec: 39 171
Source: IRCC, PRAIDA
ASYLUM SEEKERS WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM MARCH 5TH
| housed people | occupancy rate | |
| Federation | 2476 | 64% |
| at the provincial level | 1200 | 100% |
COLD SERVED MEALS
With kind approval
Meat in sauce, served cold, for dinner.
In several hotels, asylum seekers are served cold meals in plastic, styrofoam or aluminum bowls.
On the menu: sandwich, rice and chicken or even meat in sauce accompanied by cooked vegetables according to the photos sent to us.
“If we want to warm them up, we have to use microwaves,” says a young Venezuelan staying at the Radisson Hotel in Dorval.
STRICT RULES
Migrants are subject to a whole range of rules that vary from hotel to hotel.
It is forbidden to drink alcohol in your room. The curfew is 10pm or 11pm for everyone. Wearing an identification bracelet is mandatory at all times. And it is forbidden to receive visitors or go to the swimming pool.
“It’s very restrictive here. We can’t even go to our friends’ rooms,” says Sayed (fictitious name), a 28-year-old Afghan who is staying at the Quality Hotel in Dorval.
PERFECT SECURITY
Security personnel have been hired in each of the hotels to monitor the comings and goings of the asylum seekers.
“I feel like a prisoner,” testifies Josué, who has been living in the hotel for over a month.
The Journal was also systematically turned away by security forces from the lobby at all facilities it attempted to visit for this report.
Room rental is not possible
Athletes come across hotels that have been reserved by the federal government for asylum seekers, which forces them to reschedule despite the off-season.
“The hotelier might be happy to rent out all his rooms, but I can’t accommodate anyone for tournaments,” regrets Andrée Bouchard, mayor of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
The participants therefore have to contact a hotel along the motorway or even stay in Brossard, 20 minutes away, she explains.
The bill for temporarily housing all of these people has risen to more than $90 million since the September 2021 election, according to the Globe and Mail daily.
Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, its CEO, believes welcoming migrants is a largely positive experience.
“It shows that hospitality is an industry that has people at its heart and isn’t just there to make money,” he says.
Asylum seekers without
The stay of hundreds of asylum seekers in a hotel in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu since last year has hit organizations
Photo Pierre Paul Poulin
At least 1,900 asylum seekers have been accommodated at the Quality Hotel in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu since last year.
Communities as local authorities The Quality Hotel in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu saw more than 1,935 migrants between January and November 2022, according to a document from Immigration Canada.
And the house that houses them on the edge of downtown continues to fill up for the next few weeks.
“They’re parked at the hotel, that’s how I feel,” complains Andrée Bouchard, mayor of the city of 100,000.
“There are pregnant women, children, people with health problems … They need all the services,” continues the elected official, who was not notified by the federal government before signing the contract with the hotel.
destitute migrants
Feeling helpless, many asylum seekers have turned to L’Ancre, a community organization that helps newcomers.
Khadija Aoutil, organization L’Ancre
“We tried to help as much as possible, but without additional funds,” says the coordinator Khadija Aoutil, who was asked from everywhere.
His organization recently managed, through pain and misery, to get enough to pay half the salary of an employee who will lead information sessions at the hotel through June.
This represents a tiny fraction of the $3.5 million Quebec urgently distributed after an outcry from certain organizations in January.
Photo Pierre Paul Poulin
Organizations in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu help many families staying at the hotel.
At the same time, L’Ancre must make Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu workers aware of the benefits to which asylum seekers are entitled.
“The doctors in Montreal are well trained, they know how health insurance works [des demandeurs d’asile]. This is not the case at all here,” she explains.
The local board also has to adjust to the crying needs of the migrants who have left the hotel.
“These are people who weren’t there last year. Since January alone, I’ve had 50 new employees…” notes Ian Labelle, Managing Director of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Saint-Jean.
As Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu undergoes a crash course in caring for the hundreds of asylum seekers settling there, Khadija Aoutil is determined to welcome them with dignity.
“What I tell my team is that I don’t want anyone on the street without clothes or hungry,” stresses the anchor coordinator.
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