The Revivaltime Tabernacle church, which has welcomed several hundred new asylum seekers in response to the shelter space crisis in Toronto over the past few months, announced that it will no longer be open as a shelter.

Pastor Judith James said that new asylum seekers to Canada are no longer protected in the church as of Thursday, and previously suspended church services will resume.

She also added that all 230 asylum seekers who sought refuge in the church have been moved to a temporary hotel or municipal shelter under an agreement with the City of Toronto.

Revivaltime Tabernacle, a predominantly African Canadian Christian church in the Downsview area of Toronto, had been sheltering nearly 700 people since July.

Toronto has seen an increase in the arrival of asylum seekers, which is posing a challenge to its shelter system.

In the twenty months leading up to May, the number of asylum seekers requesting shelter from the city rose by 500 percent, from a low of 530 people daily in September 2021 to over 2,800 daily.

For her part, the then-deputy mayor of the city, Jennifer McKelvie, stated that the city’s shelters were operating at capacity, and announced on May 31 that without an additional $97 million from Ottawa, the municipal shelters in Toronto would no longer accept asylum seekers.

James said that her church had been the solution to an "emergency crisis" following the closure of the shelter in the city, as Revivaltime Tabernacle, Dominion Church International in North York, and Etobicoke's Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles, along with community centers across the GTA, took it upon themselves to provide free shelter in their buildings, Airbnbs, and rented units out of pocket. Some asylum seekers were sleeping outside near the city's shelter referral center.

Toronto also received an additional $97 million in federal funding on July 18, which McKelvie said was essential to continue providing shelter services dedicated to asylum seekers.

The Dominion Church International has not yet announced a projected end date for their shelter service, and James said that Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles will continue to operate as a "welcoming rest center" where newcomers to Canada can receive advice and support regarding immigration.