'Denial of care': Doctors worry about refugees as payment requirements take effect

A doctor is seen in this undated photo. (Pexels)

TORONTO — Refugees now have to pay out of pocket for part of their drug prescriptions, mental health counselling, dental services, vision care and health equipment — including wheelchairs — as changes to a federal program take effect.

For decades, Canada’s Interim Federal Health Program has provided complete health coverage to refugees and refugee claimants until they are eligible for provincial health plans and benefits.

But starting Friday, they must pay $4 for every prescription and 30 per cent of the cost of supplemental health products and services.

More than a dozen medical, nursing, social work and refugee organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Nurses Association, have warned that refugees can’t afford those co-payments and their physical and mental health will suffer.

They also say the changes will end up costing the health-care system as people who can’t afford their medication or mental health services will deteriorate and end up in emergency departments.

The Interim Federal Health Program will continue to pay the full cost of doctor’s appointments and hospital visits for refugees and refugee claimants.

Dr. Vanessa Redditt, a family physician at Women’s College Hospital’s refugee clinic in Toronto, said refugees are already living in poverty and making the co-payments will be impossible for many.

“It is a denial of care,” said Redditt, who is also a founding member of the Canadian Refugee Health Network.

“I know patients who are grappling with suicidality because of the torture that they have endured or the sexual violence that they have endured and their precarious immigration status,” she said.

“They’re still living in shelters and they don’t have a sense of safety and now they will not have the trauma therapy that they need to be safe.”

Dr. Parisa Rezaiefar, physician lead of the Ottawa Newcomer Health Centre, said investment in the health of refugees — many of whom arrive in Canada ill or injured — will allow them to integrate into the community and contribute to the economy.

“The faster we deal with people’s medical condition(s), the faster we enrol them in language training and vocational training (and) the faster we get them off supplemental care,” said Rezaiefar, who came to Canada as a refugee from Iran in the 1990s.

The federal government announced the introduction of the co-payments in its budget last year and said it is a necessary cost-saving measure.

The Canadian Press has reached out to the office of Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2026.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press