https://archive.fo/TKFuY
>Quebec cancelled a mass distribution of welfare cheques to asylum seekers at the Montreal convention centre this week after facing concerns the operation stigmatized the migrants and could raise security concerns.
>The province had initially planned to use the cavernous Palais des congrès in Montreal to hand out social-assistance cheques to more than 4,000 people, part of the wave of asylum seekers who have come across the Canada-U.S. border in recent months. The government announced on Tuesday it would carry it out elsewhere, attributing the decision to the fact that fewer people than anticipated needed to pick up their cheques by hand. The shift occurred less than 24 hours before the start of the planned three-day operation.
>Groups working with the asylum seekers, who are mostly from Haiti, say they have been pressuring the provincial government for days to cancel the event at the convention centre, which they said unfairly put the asylum seekers in the spotlight at a time when some are questioning the cost of caring for them.
And how much money is the Canadian government giving them?
>Welfare cheques for the asylum seekers start at $628 a month. The federal government says it is looking at getting the migrants temporary work permits while they wait for their asylum claims to be heard, a process that could stretch into months or years.
This is in addition to nearly $2,000 CAD/person/once when they enter Canada and the free monthly bus passes. Most of the migrants are getting at least $900 CAD a month in living assistance.