Toronto has gone into emergency mode to deal with refugee claimants overwhelming the homeless shelter system, warning that community centres could soon be transformed into temporary housing.

Starting Thursday, refugee claimants arriving in Toronto without shelter will be housed at the Centennial College Residence and Conference Centre in Scarborough.

The 400 beds there will be augmented by another 400 beds at Humber College in Etobicoke but the spaces could be full within 60 to 70 days, city staff told reporters Wednesday. In early August the homeless residents will all have to leave the dorms as students return.

“At that time, the city’s emergency protocol may require the use of municipal facilities, including active city community centres, to relocate refugee claimants in Toronto and accommodate new arrivals,” the city said in a news release.

Paul Raftis, the city’s head of shelter support and housing, told reporters: “That would definitely impact programming and impact the public who use those facilities so we are doing everything we can to avoid that,”

The city wants to the province to help steer some refugees to communities outside Toronto.

The wave of refugees via U.S. land crossings started in late 2016 with the election victory of President Donald Trump, who threatened the removal of undocumented migrants. A bilateral pact restricts refugees to filing asylum claims in the country of their arrival, but it does not apply to those who cross at unguarded border entry points, which has led to the irregular border-crossings.

City staff say some arriving in Toronto crossed the border in Manitoba but most came via Quebec. Last month, after Quebec said it was overwhelmed by the influx, federal officials said they started working on a “triage” plan that could see newcomers fast-tracked to Ontario.

The Ontario government has offered the dorm space and committed up to $3 million in Red Cross staffing costs as part of the anticipated $6.3 million total cost of operating the contingency sites for the next 75 days.

The Canadian military has set up tents in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec, to house about 500 people as a wave of asylum seekers crosses into the province. Maj. Yves Desbiens says the structures will have floors and heating. (The Canadian Press)

Since April 19, 368 refugee claimants have entered the city shelter system. At the current arrival rate, more than half of the shelter population could be refugee claimants by November.

There is a flow out of the shelters — the city says it has found permanent housing for 1,720 refugee claimants since Jan. 1, 2017 — but at nowhere near the rate of new arrivals.

Not including the emergency plan costs, the city anticipates incurring a $64.5 million bill by the end of 2018 for direct costs related to motel housing for refugee claimants.

Mayor John Tory has called on senior governments to provide a co-ordinated regional response including the provision of shelter space outside Toronto and sustainable funding to address all municipal costs for refugee claimant services.

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With files from Nicholas Keung and Allan Woods

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