Canada spent $722M on health care for asylum seekers in 2024-25: PBO

Article content

Article content

And while those rising expenses are increasing the overall cost of the IFHP, “elevated intakes” and the resulting “persistent backlogs” are also major drivers.

Article content

Officials who managed 64,150 asylum claims in 2019 had more than 173,000 in 2024. In line with the new Liberal government’s immigration policies, that number decreased to just over 100,000 in 2025.

Article content

“As of December 2025, over 300,000 asylum claims were pending adjudication and roughly 65 per cent of these pending claims have been in the system for longer than a year,” PBO wrote.

Article content

“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.”

Article content

At present, almost half (47 per cent) of the claimants have been in the system between one and two years, but the PBO estimates that the number waiting between two and three years “will notably rise by 2026-27, reflecting elevated past intake and constrained exit rates.”

Article content

And considering the backlog, PBO calculates that each additional month in processing time could drive the program costs up by $72 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

Article content

Article content

To attain asylum refugee status in Canada, applicants must pass through several layers of review and have several avenues to appeal if rejected. For instance, 79 per cent of claimants rejected by the Immigration Refugee Board filed at least one appeal, during which time they are still eligible for IFHP.

Article content

So, too, are the “nearly 74,000 failed refugee claimants” among the CBSA’s removals inventory, which consists of 23,429 people whose removals are in process and 27,797 who failed to show up for removal and are being sought by border authorities.

Article content

“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,” Mazier wrote on X.

Article content

Conservative MP Dan Mazier speaks during a press conference at the foyer of the House of Commons at the West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

Article content

It should be noted that CBSA removals have increased, climbing from 5,714 in 2021 to 19,579 last year.

Article content

With IFHP beneficiaries required as of May 1 “to contribute a fixed-fee per prescription and a percentage of the cost of supplemental services,” the PBO predicts savings of $217 million annually by 2029-30.

Article content

Under the co-pay, asylum seekers and resettled refugees now have to pay $4 for each eligible prescription and 30 per cent of the cost of all other eligible supplemental health products and services.

Article content

Article content

The PBO also highlighted Bill C-12, which, if enacted, will reduce the number of claimants eligible for IFHP coverage and shorten the duration of benefits and also alter “intake and processing timelines.

Article content

“Taken together, these changes may reduce the number of individuals eligible for IFHP coverage, shorten the period during which benefits are provided, and shift when and how claimants access the program.”

Article content

In their statement, Mazier and Rempel Garner said the collection of co-pay fees “isn’t likely to happen” and that experts suggest C-12 could be “challenged in court.”

Article content

Article content