Today is deadline for refugees to move out of college dorms in Toronto

The remaining refugees temporarily housed in dormitories at two Toronto colleges will need to pack up and move today to make way for incoming post-secondary students.

A shortage of shelter space prompted the city to temporarily house about 600 refugees in dorm rooms at Centennial and Humber colleges in May.

In June, Mayor John Tory penned a letter to government officials, revealing that Toronto’s overcrowded shelter system had no more room to house new refugees. The mayor also said that it was unclear where the refugees living in the student residences were going to live when they moved out of the dorms in August.

Earlier this month, the city said about 270 asylum seekers were still living at the student residences and the others had found permanent housing in other parts of the region.

The federal government says it has booked and paid for hotel and motel rooms in the GTA to accommodate hundreds of refugees who are still at the dorms.

The feds said they will foot the bill for the rooms until the end of September.

“The Government will continue to monitor the situation with the City of Toronto and other municipalities over the coming months, including evaluating the situation again on September 1,” a news release issued by the federal government read.

Ottawa has also provided Toronto with $11 million in funding to help offset costs associated with the influx of asylum seekers.

The province has previously said Ontario should receive $200 million from the federal government to pay for the additional costs.