Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will be discussing the ongoing refugee crisis in Toronto with Mayor Olivia Chow at a meeting at city hall today amid repeated calls for Ottawa to do more to support the city in sheltering asylum-seekers.

On Wednesday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh shared an open letter he wrote to Trudeau, imploring his government to be “a champion and a meaningful partner” to the city in dealing with the situation, which he said has reached a “crisis point.”

“While funding for refugees lies squarely with the federal government – each and every day the City of Toronto does everything in its power to house these newcomers, to help them start a new life in our country. This places incredible pressure on the shelter system as well as the city’s finances. It’s time for your government to deliver,” the letter states.

Speaking to reporters during a housing funding announcement in Toronto on Thursday, Trudeau said the topic is on the agenda at his meeting with the mayor later today.

“I look forward very much to sitting down with Mayor Chow this afternoon to talk about these issues,” Trudeau said.

“The reality is we have been there with over $100 million in funding since this summer.”

The Liberal government promised the city $97 million in funding in July in order to offset the additional costs related to providing shelter for refugees.

However, Chow has said that the city needs an additional $103 million in funding this year alone, as well as $250 million in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

“We are going to continue to look for ways to be helpful because this is an issue that really matters,” Trudeau said Thursday.

The city has said that there are approximately 2,900 refugee claimants in Toronto’s shelter system, representing a 440 per cent increase from just two years prior.

While the city has added 500 beds to the system at a cost of $34 million, the shelter system is over capacity. Asylum-seekers have frequently been seen sleeping outside the Peter Street intake centre downtown after being unable to secure a spot in one of the city’s shelters.

At a news conference on Thursday at a church in the city’s east end, which has helped house refugees amid the crisis, Singh accused the federal government of being “missing in action.”

“We heard from people who have fled really desperate conditions in their countries only to come to Canada and end up the streets of Toronto,” he said.

“What is so offensive to me right now, is at a time when we have some much need, the federal government is not stepping up. Right now Mayor Chow (and) the provincial government have actually committed to funding to actually address many of the challenges the city is faced with, including homelessness, housing, and refugees, and the federal government is missing in action.”

On Thursday, the prime minister and federal housing minister announced that $471 million will flow to the City of Toronto to build much-needed housing as part of the Housing Accelerator Fund, an announcement that Singh called “an important one.”

“But there is specific need around homelessness and around refugees that is not being met, and the result of that inaction is people living on the streets. People have died in the cold. This cannot continue in our country,” he said.

Singh added that the responsibility of sheltering refugees should never have fallen to churches and community organizations, which have taken on the task of housing and feeding many refugees who had nowhere to go.

“I want to commend churches that stepped up. They are not shelters but… churches have stepped up and provided places for people and they have stretched themselves and budgets to the limit and now many of these churches are not sure how they are going to make up for that shortfall,” Singh said.

“This is serious. It should not have fallen on the good will of citizens.”

 With files from CP24's Chris Fox