Liberals said asylum hotels would end — internal records show plans to expand them
One section notes that Quebec refused to take any more asylum seekers, prompting federal officials to look for new communities to absorb the overflow.
The Liberal government publicly said it would end federal funding for hotels housing asylum seekers, calling the practice temporary and unsustainable.
But exclusive internal federal documents obtained by Rebel News through an access to information request show the Liberals were quietly planning to scale up the system instead — including new airport processing hubs, expanded hotel use, and new cities to absorb arrivals.
In July 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that federal funding for asylum seekers in hotels would end by September 30, 2025, saying the arrangement was “never meant to be permanent.”
However, internal IRCC planning documents released January 23, 2026 under the Access to Information Act tell a very different story.
The records include a proposal from the City of Toronto and the Canadian Red Cross to establish a permanent style “welcome hub” at Pearson Airport to manage the growing flow of asylum claimants.
The proposed hub would register asylum seekers before providing them with food, temporary shelter and medical care. It would also coordinate their transportation to hotels and other cities, while serving as a handoff point to NGOs and municipal services.
The costs were expected to be between $2.5 and $3 million for the Red Cross hub, plus an another $1.6 million for partner agencies.
The documents show Ottawa expected 200 new asylum claimants per day and planned to expand hotel use to 6,000 rooms to accommodate them.
One section notes that Quebec refused to take any more asylum seekers, prompting federal officials to look for new communities to absorb the overflow.
Internal planning documents list Kitchener, London, Kingston, Mississauga and Hamilton as potential new destinations, in addition to existing placements in Ottawa, Windsor, Cornwall and Niagara.
Large portions of the records were censored under exemptions for cabinet confidences, federal-provincial relations and advice to ministers — indicating the plans were politically sensitive.
While Ottawa publicly promised to wind down emergency asylum housing, internally it was budgeting to institutionalize and expand it.
Publicly: end the hotels. Privately: build the system. And then lie about it all.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.
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COMMENTS
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Marilyn Hagerman commented 2026-02-03 14:54:55 -0500This information needs to be further WIDELY circulated….through every independent media possible as well as on uTube podcasts (lots of “surfing” is done on uTube!) This flooding of 3rd world immigrants into countries around the world is a main tool of the WEF/UN/WHO collective plan to implement a globalist fully controlled one world government! Surely Canadians can already see the crime, loss of freedoms, violent protests against rights of legitimate Canadians?
We need collectively to STOP listening to a single thing that comes out of the Liberal agenda! If no one listens, or follows the carney lies and bullshit, their efforts will ring useless!!! -
Bruce Atchison commented 2026-02-02 19:44:11 -0500Liberals lie. What else is new? They’re all image and no substance. It’s safe to believe that Liberals do the opposite of what they claim.
Thanks, Sheila, for all your hard and thorough work.
