Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (L) and Liberal Leader Mark Carney talk following the French-language federal leaders’ debate at Maison de Radio-Canada in Montreal on April 16, 2025. Christopher Katsarov/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Prime Minister Mark Carney debated the impact of asylum seekers on Canada’s health care system in the House of Commons on Feb. 24, as the Tories push for the Liberals to support their motion reviewing and cutting benefits to asylum claimants.
The Conservatives tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling for a federal review of health care benefits for asylum claimants and for asylum seekers whose claims have failed to be covered only for emergency, life-saving care. The motion also calls for judges to deport non-citizen foreign nationals who commit violent crimes in Canada.
During question period, Poilievre said millions of Canadians do not have a family doctor, while arguing that significant health care resources are “going to people who are here illegally and have been rejected.” He said the cost of providing Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) benefits to “many people who are here illegally” has risen by 1,000 percent over the last decade.
A May 2025 Inquiry of Ministry indicated that IFHP costs have increased from $66 million in 2016 to nearly $800 million by 2024. Additionally, a recent report by the parliamentary budget officer projected that the cost of the program would reach $1.5 billion annually in 2028–29.
The federal government provides medical services to asylum seekers, refugees, and other protected persons through the IFHP, such as medical treatments, hospital visits, and coverage for services like urgent dental procedures and vision care, and prescription drugs.
Carney responded that Canada is “not America” and provides “essential health care to everyone in this country.” He said the government has taken action to reduce the number of temporary workers in Canada by 50 percent and new asylum claims have fallen by one-third.
When Poilievre questioned if the Liberals would support the Tories’ motion, Carney responded that the government has the “immigration system under control, and we’re supplying the health care of Canadians.”
Poilievre also said the Liberals have allowed “foreign criminals who are visiting Canada to have less time in jail after they commit crimes.” Canada’s laws allow for foreign nationals and permanent residents convicted of crimes with maximum sentences of 10 years to be deported, as well as for people sentenced to more than six months in prison, but those facing deportation have the option to appeal.
“Will [Carney] get rid of the two-tiered system so that we can lock up serious criminals and then kick them out of our country when they’re done their time?” Poilievre asked.
Carney encouraged the Conservatives to vote in favour of Bill C-2 and Bill C-12, which would “help to address some of these issues.” Bill C-2 aims to enhance border security, combat transnational organized crime, and reform aspects of the immigration and refugee system, while Bill C-12 aims to improve the asylum claim process.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman said the party had a “clear proposal to end the two-tier health care system,” and suggested that the Liberals are opposing “fairness for Canadian taxpayers.”
Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon responded that the prime minister had explained how the number of asylum seekers and temporary workers was decreasing, and said it was “very interesting to us that after a week away to lick their wounds, the Conservatives returned to Parliament and punched down at some of the most vulnerable people in this world.”
Immigration Minister Lena Diab also said that Canada has a “robust immigration system” and will continue to honour its “humanitarian, constitutional, and international obligations.”
Earlier in the day, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, who serves as her party’s immigration critic, told reporters that more than 100,000 Canadians have died while waiting for health care since 2018, which corresponded to the “explosion of the cost” of the IFHP.
Rempel Garner said the IFHP had “morphed well beyond its initial intent of providing care to a small number of legitimate refugees,” into a program providing care to “bogus asylum claimants.”
Canada’s population increased by more than 3 million people from 2020 to 2025 due to the arrival of more permanent residents, non-permanent residents, and international students, but the Liberal government began lowering its target immigration levels in 2024. This includes reducing the number of temporary residents from 6.5 percent of Canada’s population to 5 percent over the next three years. Budget 2025 also stated that Canada would aim to admit 385,000 temporary residents next year and 370,000 in the following two years, while the 2024 immigration plan said Canada would welcome more than 516,000 temporary residents for 2025.