Second person dies after waiting at a Mississauga shelter

Advocates have put out an urgent call for solutions after a second person died after waiting at a Mississauga shelter.

The woman, an African refugee, reportedly died after waiting hours to get into the shelter at 1767 Dundas St. in Mississauga.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says there were no shelter or overflow beds available on Saturday, so the woman stayed indoors in the shelter lobby overnight.

The next day, Brown says she “had a medical emergency” and assisted by nurses on-site before she was transported to hospital where she later died.

Her cause of death has not been revealed.

“We are now at 400 per cent capacity,” Brown said on Friday about Peel’s shelter system. “This is the second tragedy we have seen at our Peel shelter in the last few months. This shouldn’t be happening in a country as prosperous as Canada.”

Brown said he is meeting with federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller on Monday “to seek solutions for this humanitarian crisis.”

In November, a man in his 40s died in an encampment outside Dundas Street East and Dixie Road. He was an asylum claimant.

Kizito Bijyinama Musabimana, founder and executive director of the Rwandan Canadian Healing Centre, issued the call for refugee organizations, faith groups, frontline service workers and health organizations to find answers and solutions.

A press conference today at the shelter will address “the urgent need for governments to address a devastation which has already taken the lives of two African migrants,” the release stated.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

— URGENT Call for Answers & Solutions to Ongoing Tragedies as yet Another African Migrant Passes Away at the Mississauga Shelter.

A Coalition of African Canadian groups, Refugee Serving Organizations, Faith Groups, Frontline Service Workers, Health… pic.twitter.com/UWiZG2H7xx

— Kizito Bijyinama Musabimana (@KizitoBM) February 23, 2024

With files from Ryan Rumbolt