Refugees to Pay 30 Percent of Some Health-Care Costs Beginning May 1

Dental instruments are shown in Oakville, Ont., on April 5, 2023. The Canadian Press/Staff

Ottawa will soon require sponsored refugees and asylum seekers to pay for 30 percent of health-care costs not covered by provinces and territories.

The co-payment plan announced this week by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will see refugees and asylum seekers pay 30 percent of costs for dental visits, optometry, and physiotherapy, as well as a $4 flat rate on prescriptions, as of May 1 under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP).

Patients will continue to receive complete coverage under the basic plan of the Interim Federal Health Program for consultations with doctors and specialists, hospital care, and diagnostic services but must pay out of pocket for 30 percent of what the government calls “supplemental” health products and services.

Aside from dental, optometry, and physiotherapy, this includes fees for psychologists and counselling therapists, occupational therapists, speech language therapists, assistive devices like prosthetics, mobility aids and hearing aids, home care and long-term care, and medical supplies and equipment.

Individuals covered by the program will be required to pay these amounts directly to their health-care providers upon receiving IFHP-eligible supplemental products or services, Immigration Canada said in its Jan. 27 announcement.

The plan, first introduced in the 2025 federal budget last November, will be applicable to refugees sponsored to Canada by both Ottawa and community organizations during their first year in the country, along with asylum seekers who arrive at the border seeking protection.

“Introducing co-payments will help keep supplemental health care accessible for eligible beneficiaries while responsibly managing growing demand,” the government said. “This change supports the long-term sustainability of the IFHP so it can continue providing essential support to current and future beneficiaries.”

Program Funding

The Interim Federal Health Program was created in 1957 to provide temporary, publicly funded health insurance to bridge the gap for refugees and protected persons who did not qualify for provincial health care.

The program provided assistance to 623,365 beneficiaries in the fiscal year 2024-2025 including 440,537 asylum claimants, according to the Immigration Canada. The expenditures totalled $896.5 million, reflecting an increase of $306.1 million from 2023-2024 due to a higher volume of claims, the ministry said.

Tory MP Dan Mazier, who serves as his party’s shadow minister for health, took to social media this week to publish figures he received from Immigration Canada after filing an Inquiry Of Ministry seeking more information on the cost of the Interim Federal Health Program.

The numbers varied slightly from the total posted on the Immigration Canada website which ran through June 9, 2025. But the data Mazier received offered a more detailed breakdown of how the money was spent.

Mazier noted that nearly $885 million was spent through the Interim Federal Health Program with $462 million allotted to “services many Canadians are not covered for” such as counselling, physiotherapy, and speech therapy.

The reply to Mazier’s request indicates that a total of $462,097,777.33 was spent on supplemental health services in the past fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. That is up more than $172 million from the 2023-2024 fiscal year when $289,807,294.80 was spent.

Additional program expenditures included $327.3 million allocated for “basic health services” such as prescriptions, $257 million for “urgent dental services,” $34.5 million designated for immigration medical examinations, $33 million in administrative expenses, $25.7 million for “pre-departure medical services,” and $2 million for oversight costs including insurers’ fees.

In his Jan. 27 social media post, Mazier also noted that Immigration Minister Metlege Diab “confirmed that rejected and bogus asylum claimants remain eligible for taxpayer-funded health benefits, even after their claims are rejected.”

Mazier, a Manitoba MP and vice-chair of the parliamentary health committee, successfully sponsored a motion at a November 2025 committee meeting calling for an investigation into the program.

The health committee voted 5-4 in favour of both the auditor general and the parliamentary budget officer probing program spending.

The Epoch Times contacted Immigration Minister Diab’s office for comment, but did not receive a response before publication time.

Immigration Canada says the program was created to help foreign nationals who are vulnerable and disadvantaged, and aren’t eligible for provincial or territorial health insurance.

The program has two purposes, the ministry said. It provides limited and temporary coverage of health care benefits to resettled refugees, refugee claimants, protected persons, foreign nationals detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, victims of human trafficking, victims of family violence, and other identified groups where the minister has granted coverage in Canada. It also offers some pre-departure medical services outside Canada for refugees selected for resettlement in the country.