FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Community Legal Services of Ottawa (CLSO) Statement on Cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP)
Ottawa, ON — Community Legal Services of Ottawa is joining health care professionals and migrants’ rights advocates in raising urgent concerns about recent changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) that introduces new costs for refugees and refugee claimants. These changes risk creating serious and immediate barriers to essential healthcare for some of the most vulnerable members of our community.
The IFHP exists to ensure that people seeking protection in Canada can access necessary medical care while their refugee status is being determined. Refugee claimants often arrive after experiencing war, persecution, torture, or gender-based violence. Many require urgent and ongoing physical and mental healthcare, including trauma-informed counselling and psychological support.
Introducing new out-of-pocket costs, even modest ones, will have a disproportionate and harmful impact on an already vulnerable population. Refugee claimants frequently live on extremely limited incomes. For many, any additional costs are not simply a burden – they are prohibitive. When individuals must choose between basic necessities and healthcare, care is delayed or abandoned entirely.
Frontline organizations as well as partners across the medical sector and other community services, have already documented how new costs are creating confusion, fear, and reduced access to care. Legal experts, including the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, have warned that requiring refugees to pay for essential services may effectively amount to a denial of care for those who cannot afford it. The Federal Court of Canada has previously affirmed that denying or impairing access to healthcare for refugees can violates Charter principles of non-discrimination.
At CLSO, we see firsthand the human impact behind these concerns. The refugee claim process itself can be deeply retraumatizing. Refugee claimants are often required to revisit and recount experiences of persecution, violence, and loss in order to establish their need for protection. This unfolds alongside profound instability and uncertainty, including the ongoing fear of being deported to harm and prolonged separation from loved ones who may still be in dangerous situations. In this context, access to counselling and mental health support is not ancillary – it is essential. Without it, refugees face increased risk of deterioration of their mental health, reduced ability to meaningfully participate in their legal process, and greater barriers to stabilizing their lives, including entering the labour market.
Limiting access to these supports not only compounds harm but also increases the likelihood of crisis situations and reliance on emergency healthcare systems, ultimately resulting in higher human and public costs. Refugee claimants often arrive with urgent medical and mental health needs yet have little to no ability to pay out of pocket. When access to basic care is restricted, many are left with no option but to turn to emergency services, or to forgo care altogether until their condition worsens. Delays in accessing care, particularly mental health supports for those who have experienced trauma, can lead to significantly poorer health outcomes over time, even after a claim is approved. The consequences of these changes therefore extend beyond individual harm, placing greater strain on already overburdened emergency systems and increasing long-term public costs. Limiting access in this way is not only short-sighted, but also undermines health, dignity, and system sustainability.
We are also deeply concerned about the broader policy direction these changes represent. Rather than strengthening Canada’s commitment to protection and inclusion, these measures risk creating a system where access to basic care is contingent on ability to pay. This undermines Canada’s Charter and international obligations and erodes the principles of fairness and equity that underpin our healthcare system.
There are better solutions. As highlighted by advocates, improving the timeliness for processing refugee claims would reduce costs associated with prolonged IFHP coverage while upholding the dignity and rights of refugee claimants.
CLSO calls on the federal government to:
- Immediately reconsider and reverse any measures that create financial barriers to IFHP coverage
- Ensure that all refugee claimants have equitable access to essential physical and mental healthcare
- Engage meaningfully with refugee-serving organizations and frontline providers
- Invest in faster, fairer refugee determination processes as a sustainable alternative that are in keeping with Canada’s legal and humanitarian obligations.
Access to healthcare is not optional. It is a fundamental component of protection, dignity, and justice.
At a time when refugees are already navigating complex systems and rebuilding their lives, Canada must not turn essential care into a barrier.
Media Contact:
Nadine Edirmanasinghe, Lawyer