Canada's Health Care System Groaning Under Levels of Unprecedented Demand

"[The Liberal government's temporary Interim Federal Health Program -- IFHP] has turned into a multi-year, taxpayer-funded entitlement where tens of thousands of bogus asylum claimants are provided health benefits that Canadians are not eligible for."

"The Liberals must explain to Canadians why asylum seekers who have had their refugee claims rejected, are facing enforceable removal orders, and in some cases fail to appear for removal, continue to receive deluxe, tax-payer funded health benefits while they avoid leaving Canada."

Conservative health critic Dan Mazier and immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner

 

"IFHP eligibility is further extended when claimants pursue appeals before the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) or the Federal Court, as well as during the completion of a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). On average, about 20 per cent of all claims referred to the IRB are appealed at least once at the RAD. Nearly 50 per cent of claimants who ultimately received a negative decision from the IRB in 2019 remained in the system for more than three years following that decision."

"As of February 2026, approximately 74,000 “failed refugee claimants”, defined as individuals who made a claim for refugee protection in Canada and did not obtain protection, were in the CBSA removals inventory."

"Failed refugee claimants may remain eligible for IFHP coverage while their cases are being assessed through ongoing immigration or risk-related processes (e.g., PRRA), and in some cases until their departure from Canada. Together, these factors substantially lengthen IFHP eligibility for a significant share of unsuccessful claimants. 

Parliamentary Budget Office report 

The Globe&Mail.com

 

Over $722 million was spent by the government of Canada in the provision of extensive health care to tens of thousands of asylum seekers, including a large number spent on 'failed refugee claimants' awaiting determination of status in the approvals system, or those who have been actively avoiding removal orders in the last fiscal year, the latest report of the Parliamentary Budget Office points out, in castigating the government for its lax processing and inexplicable devotion to providing migrants with a level of health care often not matched directed toward Canadian citizens.

 

As a result of 'backlogs in the country's asylum system, claimants are left waiting, sometimes for up to three years before their claims are officially either accepted or denied. In the interim their health care needs, at an unprecedented level of coverage, are catered to, and costs continue to rise under the Interim Federal Health Program. A program originally created to provide limited, temporary coverage in health care to foreign nationals considered to be disadvantaged and vulnerable. 

 

"As of December 2025, over 300,000 asylum claims were pending adjudication and  roughly 65 percent of these pending claims have been in the system for longer than a year." 

"This represents a five-fold increase since 2021 and is anticipated to increase in the near-term due to an influx of claims made between 2023 and 2025."

"[The number waiting between to and three years] will notably rise by 2027-27, reflecting elevated past intake and constrained exit rates."

Parliamentary Budget Office 

 

For 2024-25, total spending across all health care categories and beneficiary groups came closer to $822 million, accounting for resettled refugees' inclusion. This category "are selected and assessed abroad, with admission targets set in the Government's Immigration Levels Plan, resulting in relatively predictable intake and processing timelines". Asylum seekers on the other hand, noted the Parliamentary Budget Office, claimed an average of $724 per beneficiary each year on basic care representing doctor visits, hospital care, ambulances, labs, diagnostic testing and immigration medical examinations, in contrast to the resettled refugees' average of $97 for the same period.

 

It was found by the PBO that per-person spending on basic care increased consistently, while spending on supplementary health products and services such as urgent dental treatment, prescription drug coverage, vision care, counselling services, assistive devices and others increased at an accelerated rate. Canada spent $94 million on supplementary benefits across all groups in the 2019-20 fiscal year and by 2023-24 there was a near tripling to $285 million, reaching $457 million in 2024-25.

 

Prescription drugs and urgent dental care in particular accounted for 80 percent of the spending. PBO figures revealed that the number of dental claims rose by 43 percent between 2019 and 2025 (240,000 to 1.4 million claims). Higher average cost per claim combined to drive dental costs from $30 million to $257 million in that time frame. "Elevated intakes" and the "persistent backlogs" that resulted were identified as major drivers of increased expenses. In 2019 there were 64,150 claims -- which by 2024 rose to 173,000.

 

The present time sees about half (47 percent) of claimants in the system between one and two years with that number expected to rise.  Each additional month in processing time, according to PBO calculations, could drive program costs up by $72 million in the approaching fiscal year. Applicants must pass through several review layers to attain asylum refugee status, and if rejected can utilize several appeal avenues, which can take years, during which they they remain eligible for IFHP. 

Canada spent over $722 million on health care for asylum seekers in the last fiscal year as refugee backlogs and failed claims drove costs. Photo by Getty Images

 

Also eligible are the "nearly 74,000 failed refugee claimants" among the the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) removals inventory where currently 23, 4289 removals are in process, alongside 27,797 rejected applicants who failed to appear for removal and are in the process of being sought by border authorities for enforced removal.  

"These are  benefits that Canadians who have paid into the system their entire lives can't access."

 "It is undeniable that as the backlog grows, rejected asylum claimants continue adding pressure to a health care system where Canadians are already facing long wait times for care."

Conservative health critic Dan Mazier