Syrian refugees turn to Canadian food banks as funds fall short

[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomes Syrian refugees Georgina Zires, and her family on Dec. 11, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette]

As the Canadian government continues toward its goal of bringing 25,000 government-sponsored Syrian refugees to Canada, food banks across the country are feeling the influx.

From Halifax to Surrey, B.C., food banks report sharp increases in the number of clients they serve, many of them Syrian refugees.

The Islamic Family and Social Services Association in Edmonton says it is helping more than 200 refugee families, with more than 3,000 Syrian families expected to settle in the Alberta city.

The Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank in Halifax issued a public appeal for Arabic-speaking volunteers earlier this year, saying it had more than 500 new clients, half of whom did not speak English.

The Surrey Food Bank says it now serves 100 Syrian refugee families and the number is climbing.

“We’ve certainly had refugees come for years, but not in the numbers like this,” executive director Marilyn Hermann told a local radio station.

The Ottawa Citizen reports that more than a dozen of that city’s food banks have seen a spike. Just one, the Food Cupboard, is helping to feed 400 people from 75 Syrian refugee families, the newspaper reports.

Of the 26,500 Syrians who have resettled in Canada since the effort began last fall, just over 15,000 are government-sponsored. Individuals and groups privately sponsor the rest.

Peter Goodspeed, a volunteer with one of those groups, Lifeline Syria, says he believes most of the refugees turning to food banks are government-sponsored.

Private sponsors are responsible for the total care and support of a refugee family for at least a year, he says. That includes raising funds for their rent, food, medical coverage, clothing, etc., he says.

“Technically the minimum level of support is the same for both groups,” Goodspeed tells Yahoo Canada News.

“Private sponsors are financially obliged to put up enough money and in-kind support to match the standard welfare rate. But in fact, private sponsors invariably go over and above that, actively helping and supporting their families for a full year, making certain they have everything they need.”

The federal government suggests private sponsors raise $12,600 in annual settlement costs for a single person ($9,800 in monthly support and $2,800 in start-up costs) and $23,000 for a family of three ($17,700 in monthly support and $5,300 in start-up costs).

“Usually private sponsorship groups in the [Greater Toronto Area] budget for much higher levels of support in the first year,” Goodspeed says.

“Government-assisted refugees, however, don’t have that support. Instead they receive the equivalent of a Canadian welfare payment from the federal government and must find their own housing. As a result, like a lot of people on public assistance, they may rely on food banks, simply because the government payments don’t cover all their needs.”

Nancy Caron, spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), says the department works with numerous agencies across the country that deliver resettlement assistance to refugees. Those services often include helping newcomers where and how to shop on a limited budget and finding resources in the community for low-income families, such as food banks or second-hand stores.

“Food banks are a reality in many communities and are accessed by Canadians and others from all walks of life,” Caron says in an email response to queries from Yahoo Canada News.

“IRCC continues to monitor the evolving nature of this issue, and will take further action as appropriate to ensure refugees are able to successfully and sustainably settle in their new home communities, while also balancing fairness to others in need to ensure the best outcome possible for Canadian society as a whole.”

Currently, government-sponsored refugees receive a one-time start-up payment and then qualify for monthly financial support for up to a year. Rates vary from province to province.

“It is the minimum amount needed to cover only the most basic food and shelter needs,” says a fact sheet from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

In British Columbia, for example, an employable single person receives $610 a month on social assistance and a family of three with an employable single parent, $1,035 a month.

In Ontario, a single employable person is eligible for assistance of $681 a month and a single-parent family of three, $1,226 a month.

Those rates include shelter.

Most refugees owe the federal government upon arriving in Canada for the cost of transportation and medical checks. Last November, the Liberals waived those fees for Syrian refugees.

According to the Canadian Council for Refugees, a single person is allowed a one-time payment of up to $905 to buy clothing and household items. They are also eligible for a $564 loan for rental deposits and getting things like telephone lines installed.

Sahar Youssef of the Dar Foundation says the group provides food bank services to about 60 families in the Oakville and Mississauga area every week. Of those 60, a dozen are refugee families; 10 of them recently arrived from Syria.

“They’re not just struggling for food. They’re struggling for many things,” she says.