Matan HazanovManaging Partner, Enigma Ventures · Founder | VC | Podcast Host | I can help you raise money

40% of Toronto's homeless are refugees...

19 Feb 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:47

In a council address, the speaker reflects on the dramatic increase in Toronto’s homeless shelter population over the past 15 years, rising from roughly 2,500‑3,000 individuals on a cold winter night to about 15,000 currently. The speaker describes visible signs of homelessness—tents in public right‑of‑way, people sleeping in subways and on park benches—and expresses sadness at the situation. A key point is that 40% of shelter residents are newcomers, specifically asylum seekers and refugees. The speaker argues that, under the Canadian Constitution, immigration is a federal matter and therefore the federal government (Ottawa) should fund the associated costs, but it has not done so, leaving the city without a suitable partner.

Chapters

But let me deal with the homelessness, for example. When I came to council 15 years ago, you had about 2,500, 3,000 people in our shelters on any given night in the wintertime when it was really cold. And now we're housing 15,000. We see homeless people setting up tents in our camps, on our public right-of-way. We see them sleeping in the subways, on park benches. I mean, it is sad. It is very sad. But at the same time, we don't have a good partner in Ottawa. 40% of those in our shelters are newcomers. They are asylum seekers or refugees. And any quick reading of the Constitution shows that immigration is federal jurisdiction and they should pick up the bill, but they're not.