EDITORIAL: Taxpayers fund abuse of federal health program

Failed refugees are getting the premium benefit package while governments are cutting back on insured services for ordinary Canadians.

Published May 31, 2026  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  2 minute read

Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam MP Ron Mackinnon joined Federal minister of natural resources Jonathan Wilkinson, Translink VP of customer communications, marketing and public affairs Steve Vanagas and West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast MP Patrick Weiler to announce a $1.5-million funding promise to Translink, at Waterfront Station in Vancouver, BC Friday, March 21, 2025. (Photo by Jason Payne/ PNG) (For story by Derrick Penner) [PNG Merlin Archive] Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

The first rule of parenting is that you punish the child who misbehaves and reward the good kid. It also works well for governments, a truth Prime Minister Mark Carney appears to have overlooked.

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A recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says taxpayers are footing the bill for health care for failed refugees. They’re getting the premium benefit package while governments are cutting back on insured services for ordinary Canadians.

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Seniors who’ve worked and paid taxes in this country for decades are penalized if they were frugal and saved for their retirement. The income-tested cap on dental care prohibits them from claiming insured dental services. Yet the feds are footing the bill for similar benefits for people who don’t qualify to be in this country.

As provinces cut back on insured services such as physiotherapy and eye care, the federal government is paying those benefits for failed refugee claimants — to the tune of almost $1 billion.

Postmedia columnist Brian Lilley reported last week that the cost of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) soared from $60 million a year to $822 million in 2024-25. What was supposed to be a stopgap health measure for refugee and asylum claimants — until they qualify for provincial or territorial benefits — has become an entrenched handout. Instead of being deported, 74,000 failed asylum claimants are accessing IFHP coverage. Dental costs under the plan skyrocketed from $30 million to $257 million in just five years. The PBO report says that refugees resettled were, on average, in the program for three months.

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For the fiscal year 2024-25, the average duration of the coverage was four years.

Liberal House leader Steve MacKinnon deflected Conservative questions about the outrageous costs in Parliament last week.

“Why are the Conservatives against providing health care to some of the most vulnerable people on Earth?” MacKinnon asked. If they’ve been turned down as refugees, presumably they’re not vulnerable. They should be deported, not cossetted at taxpayer expense.

Canada was once the gold standard for immigration. We had a well-implemented and regulated immigration system.  It was destroyed when the government of Justin Trudeau flooded this country with millions of newcomers, putting a strain on social services and housing.

Paying health-care benefits for people who don’t qualify for them just adds incompetence to that mismanagement.

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