Ottawa urged to rescind medical fees for refugees

Ottawa Urged to Rescind Medical Fees for Refugees
Calgary Herald, April 15, 2026

Dr. Annalee Coakley, coordinator of the Migration and Humanitarian Health Collective at the University of Calgary, joined refugee advocates at a press conference calling on the federal government to reverse planned changes to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) that would introduce co-payments and supplemental care fees for refugees in Canada.

Starting May 1, refugees and refugee claimants would be required to pay a $4 co-payment for prescription medications and 30 per cent of the cost of supplemental services including dental care, vision care, mental health counselling, and physiotherapy. Dr. Coakley described the changes as "penny-wise and pound-foolish," warning that without access to preventive care, refugees' conditions worsen, leading to costlier emergency room visits that burden the health system further.

She pushed back on the framing that refugees receive preferential treatment, noting that current IFHP spending of $1,645 per refugee claimant is already well below the $5,868 average per capita public health expenditure for Canadians. "It's actually equitable to low-income Canadians. They are not getting additional health care," she said.

Dr. Coakley also raised concern about Alberta's planned referendum questions on immigration, which could restrict non-permanent residents from accessing provincial social services, compounding existing barriers for refugees. She connected the broader climate of anti-immigrant sentiment to U.S. political trends, warning against scapegoating newcomers for systemic planning failures.

Read the full article on the Calgary Herald.