What to know
- Federal Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre is committed to cracking down on “fake refugees” in a video posted to X.
- He says he will introduce a new motion to cut back “deluxe health benefits” for “fake refugees” and deport foreign nationals who do crime.
- Retired political science professor Nelson Wiseman says Poilievre is playing to people’s anxiety about health care and lacks evidence in his claims.
Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre wants to crack down on “fake refugees.”
In a video posted to X on Monday, Poilievre is shown walking along Dan Leckie Way in Toronto while laying out his party’s future plans to introduce new policies to “cut back deluxe benefits for fake refugees and deport non-citizens and foreign nationals who do crime.”
BREAKING: Conservatives will introduce a motion tomorrow to cut back deluxe benefits for fake refugees and deport non-citizens and foreign nationals who do crime.
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) February 23, 2026
Time to take care of our health care, our taxpayers, our safety, and our country: https://t.co/l9HFfGqXhs pic.twitter.com/Jp2Nfjqo99
In the video, Poilievre lays out difficulties he says Canadians face in accessing health care and the wait times it takes to see a specialist, and attributes those to the influx of refugees that he says “Liberals let into the country.”
Among his concerns, he claims “six million Canadians can’t get access to a family doctor” and that “it takes 30 weeks for the average Canadian to see a specialist.”
Poilievre blames the shortcomings of the Canadian health-care system on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal party measures which he said led Canadians to “pay higher taxes to fund deluxe supplementary health-care benefits for asylum claimants who have been rejected.”
He also suggests these asylum claimants “have never paid taxes” and use their “deluxe supplementary benefits” to seek out wellness services like physiotherapy.
To address this, Poilievre pledges to move a motion to force a review and a cutback in benefits to asylum claimants to ensure they no longer receive “superior health benefits than Canadians,” only life-saving emergency care.
He also asserts that “foreign nationals” take advantage of Canada’s criminal justice system, receiving lower prison sentences. He says he wants judges to give full sentences and allow for a complete deportation.
Some social media users on X are calling Poilievre a hypocrite, showing a video of speeches he made between 2021 and 2023 criticizing former prime minister Justin Trudeau for his low immigration rates. Another person showed a screenshot from the government of Canada website debunking his claims that refugees get more financial help.
Nelson Wiseman, a retired political science professor who used to teach at the University of Toronto, says while Canada’s asylum claimant system needs reform, Poilievre is using examples of access to family doctors and wait times for specialists to play to people’s anxiety about health care.
Wiseman also says Poilievres’ claim that “foreign nationals” receive lower prison sentences lack evidence.
“Of course that’s not true. Where’s the evidence? Like if somebody is charged with, say, robbery, why would the asylum seeker who’s charged and in court be sentenced to less than a citizen or a permanent resident. Why would a judge do that? Just use common sense.”
