03/21/2026
Upcoming Changes to the Federal Interim Health Program Will Harm Refugees
by Heidi Kiran Mehta, Registered Social Worker - Psychotherapist (MSW, RSW) Toronto, 21/03/2025
As a therapist, I provide services to refugees through the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP). Many of the people I work with are racialized q***r and trans people who have experienced torture and whose lives are at risk.
Refugees flee to Canada from countries that have been rendered unsafe due to colonial and imperialist interference, underdevelopment, exploitation of human and natural resources, and support for corrupt governments. Said home countries are often forced to prioritize the interests of Canadian mining and oil companies at the expense of human rights as their economies have been stagnated by the complexity and compounding impact of these histories and their legacies.
The federal government is introducing co-payments to the IFHP. These co-payments equire refugees to pay 30% of the cost of healthcare services. Can you imagine fleeing torture with the clothes off your back; navigating an unsafe journey; and arriving in a country with a dollar that is worth far more than the one in your home country due to being deflated due to structural adjustment plans (SAPs) imposed by the World Bank / International Monetary Fund for debts caused by colonial extraction? Can you fathom the impact of additionally facing discrimination in employment, housing, and education? Could you then afford to pay 30% of your much needed health care costs?
The Healthy Immigrant Effect (HIE) describes a phenomena whereby migrants, arrive in good health, but their health declines significantly over time in Canada, leading to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and suicidal ideation (Government of Canada, 2023). These statistics disproportionately affect racialized migrants and refugees (Immigrant, Refugee, Ethnocultural and Racialized Populations and the Social Determinants of Health a Review of 2016 Census Data, 2019). It is well documented that living with chronic stress dysregulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Nunez et al., 2025), leading to a host of physical and psychological health issues. "Race" and immigration status are therefore social determinants of health outcomes.
As a health care professional, I am concerned that refugees will be forced to forego necessary healthcare access due to financial reasons, therefore being put at further risk. In addition, this could pose a risk that the government cuts the program in its entirety, equating lack of use with lack of need.
Please consider contacting the Honourable Prime Minister Mark Carney and your Member of Parliament to voice your dissent for these changes to the Interim Federal Health Plan. Everyone deserves free access to health care as a basic human right. The introduction of a co-payment is an increased barrier for vulnerable refugees that will exacerbate existing inequities.
Government of Canada, S. C. (2023, September 13). Determinants of health. Www150.Statcan.gc.ca. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-570-x/2023001/section4-eng.html
Immigrant, refugee, ethnocultural and racialized populations and the social determinants of health A Review of 2016 Census Data. (2019).https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/wp-content/uploads/drupal/2019-03/irer_report_mar_2019_eng.pdf
Nunez, S. G., Rabelo, S. P., Subotic, N., Caruso, J. W., & Knezevic, N. N. (2025). Chronic Stress and Autoimmunity: The Role of HPA Axis and Cortisol Dysregulation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26(20), 9994. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26209994
