What to know
- As of May 1, refugees must pay $4 per prescription and 30 per cent of the cost for services such as dental, vision, mental health counselling and assistive devices, under changes announced in the 2025 federal budget.
- The cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which served about 600,000 people last year, mean added costs for services such as physiotherapy, home care, medical equipment and more—while only doctor and emergency visits remain fully covered.
- The University Health Network (UHN) says it’s too early to determine whether the changes will drive more emergency room visits, noting multiple factors influence demand and more data is needed.
On May 1, the Government of Canada is officially holding refugees responsible for co-paying $4 of the cost of prescription medication and 30 per cent of the cost of dental care, vision care, counselling and assistive devices.
The Government of Canada announced this decision in the 2025 Budget.
The Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) helped around 600,000 people in the last year, but is now cutting its budget.
Beyond the $4 co-payment for prescription medications filled or refilled under the IFHB, 30 per cent of eligible supplemental health products and services will also be billed. Here’s what that includes:
- Urgent dental care
- Vision care
- Mental health counselling
- Physiotherapy
- Speech language therapy
- Assistive devices such as wheelchairs, prosthetics, and hearing aids.
- Home care
- Medical supplies and equipment
The only healthcare that remains free are doctor and emergency visits.
Now Toronto asked the United Health Network (UHN) what this means for hospitals.
“It would be speculative to draw a direct or immediate connection between these changes and increased emergency department volumes,” a UHN spokesperson wrote.
UHN added that emergency department demand can be influenced by illness severity, access to community and primary care, seasonal trends and broader system capacity.
“At this early stage, there is limited evidence to assess how these changes may affect health-seeking behaviour, and it will take time and data to understand any system-level impacts,” the spokesperson added.
