Liberals delay disclosing info on interim health fund for asylum seekers

Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques has informed the House of Commons health committee that he could not provide analysis on the federal government’s interim health program for refugees

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques has informed the House of Commons health committee that he could not provide analysis on the federal government’s interim health program for refugee claimants because the Liberal immigration department “would not” provide data to him by his scheduled testimony date.

Conservative Health Critic Dan Mazier sounded the alarm on X, sharing a letter from Jacques, saying the Liberal government was “blocking timely immigration data into the over $800 million” the program was estimated to have spent in 2025-26 as of September 2025. Using September as a benchmark, the program had an over 12-fold increase from the $66 million spent in 2016-17.

The Liberals failed to block the committee motion to summon both the Auditor General and the Parliamentary Budget Officer to audit the Interim Federal Health Program after it was discovered that the program’s spending had ballooned so dramatically.

The motion came after Conservatives pressured Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab to reveal that even asylum seekers whose refugee claims had been rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada were covered under the program.

Jacques’ letter to the committee noted that the PBO is entitled by law to “free and timely” access to information under the control of the immigration department, in this case, to allow the official to perform the duties of his office.

“On December 3, 2025, I sent an information request pursuant to section 79.4 to IRCC requesting information related to the cost of the IFHP for the purposes of the Motion adopted by the Committee,” he wrote. “On December 5, 2025, IRCC indicated that the information would not be provided before January 7, 2026. Unfortunately, I will not have adequate time to prepare my analysis to meet the Committee’s January 30th deadline.”

Last year in November, the Liberal government requested $411.2 million in new spending to fund the program, which provides health benefits to asylum seekers and refugees. The program is designed to provide healthcare to individuals who lack health coverage due to their immigration status.

Government data released in September indicated that, as of that date, the program had spent an estimated $821,191,548 in 2025, covering healthcare options that many Canadians don’t receive under their regular healthcare benefits. Service coverage included pharmaceuticals, vision care, counselling, assistive devices, prosthetics, home care, nursing homes, physiotherapy and occupational speech therapy.