Canada will require refugees and asylum seekers to co-pay for health care starting in May

Significant change. Major expenses still fully covered however:

Starting May 1, Ottawa will require sponsored refugees and asylum seekers to co-pay for their health-care coverage, a move that critics worry will lead to delayed and possibly denied access to care.

The co-payment plan — first revealed in Ottawa’s 2025 budget in November — will apply to refugees sponsored to Canada by the federal government and community groups in their first year in the country, as well as asylum claimants who arrive at the border for protection.

Patients will still be fully covered under the Interim Federal Health Program’s basic plan to see doctors and specialists, access hospital care, and for diagnostics.

However, they will now be asked to pay out of pocket 30 per cent of the costs of services such as dental, optometry and physiotherapy under its supplemental benefit plan. They will also be charged a $4 flat rate on each prescription….

Source: Canada will require refugees and asylum seekers to co-pay for health care starting in May, Co-payments for supplemental health benefits