OTTAWA — A damning new report from Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) is igniting a fierce political firestorm after revealing that tens of thousands of failed refugee claimants continue to receive extensive, taxpayer-funded health benefits — sometimes for years after being ordered to leave the country — even as millions of Canadians struggle to find a family doctor.
The PBO analysis of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), released this week, found the annual cost has ballooned to $822 million in 2024-25, driven by record asylum claims, processing backlogs, and a system that allows rejected claimants to access services far beyond emergency care.
The report shows that nearly 74,000 failed asylum claimants are still in the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) removals inventory, many clinging to generous IFHP coverage through lengthy appeals and risk assessments. Conservatives seized on the findings, calling the program a multi-year “deluxe entitlement” enabled by Liberal mismanagement.
“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, taxpayer-funded health benefits while they avoid leaving Canada,” said Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, in a joint statement with health critic Dan Mazier.
Exploding Costs and Extended Stays
The PBO data paints a stark picture of a program originally designed to provide urgent, short-term care for vulnerable refugees. Instead, the average duration of IFHP coverage for asylum claimants has stretched to roughly four years — up from three years in 2021-22.
Among the most striking revelations:
- Dental costs skyrocketed from 30millionto∗∗257 million** in just five years.
- Counselling services exploded, jumping from less than 1% of supplementary spending in 2016 to 11% in 2025, costing taxpayers $38.79 million last year.
- Home health visits cost another $12.41 million for asylum seekers and others in 2024-25.
- The backlog of over 300,000 pending asylum claims — five times higher than in 2021 — is adding an estimated $72 million in extra annual costs for each additional month of processing delay.
- Failed claimants now cost 80% more per person than genuine resettled refugees because their cases drag on for years before deportation.
“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,” the PBO report states. In some cases, rejected claimants stay in Canada and keep their benefits while fighting removal through multiple appeals.
Political Fallout
The Conservatives have made the IFHP’s ballooning budget a central part of their immigration critique, blaming what they call Liberal “open-border policies” for encouraging abuse. They note that the governing Liberals recently voted against a Conservative motion to restrict failed claimants to emergency, life-saving care only, and rejected proposals to tighten the asylum system.
“Conservatives will restore Canada’s immigration system, ensure healthcare capacity is available before setting immigration levels, and end taxpayer-funded deluxe health benefits for failed asylum claimants who have been told to leave Canada,” the statement read.
The Liberals have not yet issued a detailed response to the PBO report, but have previously defended the IFHP as a humanitarian necessity that upholds Canada’s international obligations. The government’s planned co-payments and measures in Bill C-12 may marginally slow cost growth, the PBO suggests, but the report warns that total program spending will continue to climb steeply each year — costing taxpayers hundreds of millions more.
Key Quotes from the PBO Report
“As of February 2026, approximately 74,000 ‘failed refugee claimants’ … 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… Together, these factors substantially lengthen IFHP eligibility for a significant share of unsuccessful claimants.”
“Nearly 50 per cent of claimants whose refugee claims were initiated in 2019 remained in the removals inventory for more than three years following a negative decision.”
“Spending on counselling services saw an increase from less than one percent of total supplementary spending in 2016 to 11 per cent in 2025.”
The report puts a sharp focus on a system that, according to the Conservatives, rewards those who abuse it — and leaves ordinary Canadians waiting for care. As the political battle intensifies, taxpayers are left asking: why are those ordered to leave still getting benefits many citizens can’t access?
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