Feds defer to provinces for data on immigration’s healthcare impact

Federal health officials say they rely on provinces to provide data to assess the impacts of immigration on the healthcare system, admitting Ottawa doesn’t track its impact.

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Federal health officials say they rely on provinces to provide data to assess the impacts of immigration on the healthcare system, admitting Ottawa doesn’t track its impact.

During a House of Commons health committee on Thursday, Conservative health critic Dan Mazier asked the deputy minister of Health Canada, Greg Orencsak, if Canada’s healthcare system could handle the record number of immigrants the Liberal government has been bringing into the country.

Orencsak said the feds let provinces assess the impact of immigration on their healthcare systems.

According to a July study, immigration rates in Canada have quadrupled since the Liberals first took office in 2015. A Statistics Canada report found that there were an estimated 3,024,216 non-permanent residents in Canada as of July 1, 2025.

However, that number doesn’t account for migrants whose visas have expired or have had asylum claims cancelled. The feds refuse to release the data. As of August of last year, the immigration department estimated there were approximately 300,000 to 600,000 illegal immigrants residing in Canada.

“The government is planning to allow 395,000 permanent residents and 673,000 non-permanent residents into Canada this year alone. Can our healthcare system handle the government’s record levels of immigration? Yes or no?” Mazier asked.

Orencsak responded, saying that Health Canada “continues” to work with provinces and territories “in respect of their health systems and the provision of health services,” and that provinces are consulted on the government’s immigration policies.

When asked if the health department conducts analyses on the impact of immigration on healthcare, Orencsak said Health Canada “would be relying on provinces and territories” as part of their planning around healthcare. He repeated that provinces supply the feds with that data.

Mazier noted that immigration was a federal responsibility and asked the deputy minister to supply the data they receive from provinces in writing.

During the committee, Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski was offended by the suggestion that Canada’s healthcare system was “being overburdened by the number of immigrants.”

“As someone who’s worked my whole life in the healthcare system, I would say, if it weren’t for immigrants, our healthcare system would be totally overrun! So many doctors, nurses, PSWs, working in hospitals and chronic care homes, are immigrants to this country,” Powlowski said. “They’re really, I would suggest, the backbone of the healthcare system. Without them, the healthcare system couldn’t continue to function.”

Powlowski asked Orencsak if the Public Health Agency of Canada had the numbers of international students who are currently being employed as PSWs, nurses, and doctors in Canada.

Orencsak said that there were currently about “200,000 internationally educated” health professionals in Canada and that “immigration is a vital tool for addressing some of the health workforce shortages that exist in the country.”

Powlowski thanked immigrants for coming to Canada to help the healthcare system, and accused Conservatives of “trying to demonize” immigrants as “being the problem.”