After giving the Commons immigration committee a heads up earlier this week, Ontario’s formally made a request for $200-million from the Trudeau government to cover the costs of dealing with illegal border crossers.

(Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

In a letter to her federal counterpart, Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, who’s also responsible for immigration, says the province ”can only do so much” as well as expressing concern over Ottawa’s approach to the issue.

”For more than a year, communities across Ontario have been straining to support a high number of the illegal border crossers, and the approach of the federal government is now testing the patience and generosity of Ontarians,” she wrote.

MacLeod laid out how the Ford government arrived at the $200-million figure.

She says $74-million would cover temporary housing costs in Toronto alone, as well as $12-million for Ottawa and $3-million for the Red Cross for support services, $90-million in social assistance costs and $20-million for ”primary and secondary education spaces”.