Liberals facing backlash after restoring previously cut health coverage for asylum seekers
The Carney government is reversing cuts it made earlier this year to a program that provides taxpayer-funded health-care coverage for asylum claimants.
The Liberal government is facing increasing criticism after a new report from the Toronto Star shows it has restored health-care coverage for asylum claimants that it had cut in May of this year.
The Liberals introduced changes to the Interim Federal Health Program in May requiring most asylum claimants to pay 30 percent of costs for many services, devices and supplies, plus $4 per prescription.
Last week, the program’s insurer announced that specific high-cost items—feeding supplies, respiratory devices, implantable hearing aids, nursing-home care and hospital rehabilitation—would again be fully covered with no co-payments.
The decision to return the financial burden of unapproved asylum claimants' health care costs onto Canadian taxpayers quickly sparked a fierce backlash from critics on social media.
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani slammed the move in a post on X, arguing the Liberal government’s immigration policies are overwhelming Canada’s health-care system.
"While Canadians can't find family doctors and our hospitals are overcrowded, Carney Liberals continue to burden the healthcare system with bad immigration policy," he wrote.
While Canadians can't find family doctors and our hospitals are overcrowded, Carney Liberals continue to burden the healthcare system with bad immigration policy. https://t.co/gqUYJ1j4jL
— Jamil Jivani (@jamiljivani) August 6, 2026
National Post columnist Jamie Sarkonak also condemned the Liberals' immigration policies in response to the Toronto Star report, noting "unproven asylum seekers will once again" receive a wide range of health-care items and services.
"It's embarrassing that we've been made into a health resort for the developing world," she added.
Unproven asylum seekers will once again get free "items and services like feeding supplies, respiratory devices, implantable hearing aids, nursing homes and hospital-based rehabilitation..."
— Jamie Sarkonak (@sarkonakj) August 6, 2026
It's embarrassing that we've been made into a health resort for the developing world. https://t.co/0vtnZg32zA
The Interim Federal Health Program costs Canadian taxpayers nearly $900 million a year after ballooning from just $210 million five years ago.
The shift in policy occurs during a period where the national backlog of pending asylum applications sits at roughly 300,000 active cases.
Conservative lawmakers argue that fully funding these supplemental medical services increases the financial burden on taxpayers while domestic provincial healthcare systems face widespread doctor shortages and overcrowding.
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