A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, left, standing in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, advises migrants that they are about to illegally cross from Champlain, N.Y., and will be arrested, Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Two federal ministers committed Wednesday to helping ease the strain of irregular migrants on Ontario’s biggest cities by introducing a series of supports for refugees waiting for their day in court.

At a press conference in Ottawa, Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen reaffirmed their commitment to work with all levels of government to bring a triaged refugee system to Ontario. The system would redistribute irregular migrants — who cross into Canada at unofficial border crossings — from Toronto to other areas of the province while they wait for their hearing with the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).

The announcement comes after Toronto Mayor John Tory issued a cry for help and called on the federal government to offer relief to the city’s shelter system that is currently at capacity. Two community colleges have been opened to temporarily house approximately 800 migrants for the summer.

“We need to make sure the resources are in place at the border to ensure we can deal with any influx,” said Garneau, chair of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Irregular Migration. “While they are waiting for their IRB hearing, they can integrate into the province.”

The idea will be to provide services to migrants waiting for their hearing before the board while simultaneously streamlining work permit applications.

The wait for an IRB hearing takes an average of 18 months, but Garneau said the government is working to reduce that to 12 months by the end of the year.

The creation of a formal triage system was delayed because of the Ontario election, but discussions are getting underway with the new Ford government, which Garneau said he hopes will result in a comprehensive system being in place before the fall session begins.

After holding what was its 11th meeting Wednesday, the task force welcomed some new members, including Tory and Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s new minister of children, community and social services and minister responsible for women’s issues. As Premier Doug Ford did not appoint a minister responsible for immigration in his new cabinet, which was announced on Friday, there is speculation about whether the portfolio is falling to MacLeod by default.

The federal government would not confirm or deny if it was working with MacLeod as the province’s immigration minister, but Garneau said they have already discussed the advantages of implementing a triage system.

“We have to make sure areas in Ontario are involved in this process, like they are in Quebec,” he said.

Conservative Immigration critic Michelle Rempel called the government’s latest response to the irregular migrant crisis “irresponsible.”

“A strong, stable immigration system should have a plan for integration,” she said. “It shouldn’t be a situation where provincial governments are begging the federal government for money they don’t have.”

The number of irregular migrants has gradually reduced in the last six months, from just over 8,000 last September to 5,462 in the first three months of this year. Both ministers said this downward trend has continued into the summer months, but did not provide specific numbers.

Hussen said the federal government has already committed an extra $50 million split between Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba to support each provincial government with the influx of irregular migrants. The majority of the money will apply to Toronto because “they are the ones facing this pressure.”