Almost a hundred million dollars heading to Toronto from the federal government to fund interim housing for asylum seekers.

Dozens of people have been camped out in downtown Toronto for weeks – the City saying it hadn’t seen federal funding since last year to deal with an overwhelmed shelter system.

Two churches in North York have now taken in many, temporarily, while the cash comes in to shore up the system.

Officials say the number of asylum seekers in Toronto’s shelter system grew by 500 per cent in 20 months and they are forced to turn people away.

While levels of government negotiated costs, a Toronto business owner decided to lend a hand on his own.

The founder of Paramount Fine Foods, Mohamad Fakih, pledged to donate $20-thousand to help house the refugees.