Evidence of meeting #35 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was seekers.
A video is available from Parliament.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
You briefly mentioned the results achieved with Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. If my notes are correct, Newfoundland and Labrador will accept 290 asylum seekers and New Brunswick will accept 400. To give people an idea, across the country, on April 1, 2026, there were 334,965 asylum seekers.
How do you measure the success achieved since 2024 in terms of a fair distribution of asylum seekers?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Look, this is a first pilot project with the provinces, so the number is necessarily low. The agreement was signed only a year ago. We are looking at the results and we look forward to continuing discussions with the provinces and territories.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
I'm going to come back to a question that was asked earlier.
Last Friday in the House of Commons, the minister said that that her objective was to move towards a fair distribution of asylum seekers.
What instructions have you received from the minister to get things moving with the reluctant provinces?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
As I mentioned, we have received additional funding for the interim housing assistance program in the amount of $564 million over the next three years. I think this opens the door to an ongoing discussion with the provinces and territories.
Obviously, as the minister mentioned, we recognize the considerable burden that Quebec and Ontario are bearing. This is a discussion that the minister wants to continue with the other provinces and territories.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
Thank you, Ms. Scott.
Mr. Hollmann, you mentioned that there might be an issue related to article 7 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as article 9.
Was a legal opinion provided by the Department of Justice's legal team on this matter?
Director General, Asylum Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
When we look at the issues related to this matter, we always consult our legal services, yes.
Bloc
Director General, Asylum Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Legal opinions have been sought on various issues related to the asylum system.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
I'm going to ask you to produce that legal opinion for the committee.
What questions did you ask the lawyers? What approach have you tested?
As you know, Germany's proposal, for example, to distribute asylum seekers is to explain to them that services will be offered in certain states. It's up to them to choose, but there is an incentive.
Is that the formula you tested, or is it the European Union's formula?
Director General, Asylum Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It is hard to make comparisons between the European and Canadian systems. Most of the European systems that distribute asylum seekers in the way you mentioned are based on reception centres set up across the country. They're not offering the right to work, so—
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
I'll repeat my question, Mr. Hollmann: What did you ask the lawyers? There are different distribution formulas for asylum seekers that could be tested.
Director General, Asylum Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I can't give you an exact answer today.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
Did you have a mandate to check the other methods used by the European Union and other European countries regarding the distribution of asylum seekers?
Director General, Asylum Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We always look at examples of practices in foreign systems to compare them to those in Canada and see if there are things we can do to improve the Canadian system. As I mentioned, when it comes to housing, the systems are very different.
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
Thank you, Mr. Hollmann.
Mr. Ho, you have the floor for five minutes.
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Thank you, Chair.
It's great to have folks here from the immigration department's social programs and asylum policy branches.
I want to talk about the interim federal health program, which provides gold-plated health care coverage that Canadians themselves don't even receive.
The IFHP was designed as a limited and temporary health program for vulnerable foreign nationals not eligible for provincial health coverage. The latest PBO report came out last month, and it projects the program costs will rise to over $1.5 billion by 2029-30.
Would officials agree that this is no longer a small, short-term emergency program but a major permanent cost centre for taxpayers?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
As you indicated, the interim federal health program provides basic and targeted supplementary health benefits to both resettled refugees and asylum claimants. The most recent PBO report looked at the impact of the new copay model that the federal government introduced on May 1, with four dollars per prescription and 30% for supplementary benefits—
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
You're not really answering the question.
The PBO found that supplementary benefits, which you talked about and are different from basic benefits.... Supplementary benefits include dental care, prescription medication, counselling, vision care and assistive devices, and, by the way, include things that Canadians don't even receive from the government. These supplementary benefits now account for roughly 54% of the entire program—the majority of the program. Does the department still consider this program to be primarily about urgent, temporary health coverage?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
The PBO report demonstrated that the measures the department is taking are bringing down costs. Certainly, those costs are driven by the backlog of asylum claimants, but the program is aligned with the supplementary benefits programs that provinces and territories offer to those who are on social assistance and to disability support recipients. If we were to not provide that access, it would create—
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
We're not talking about someone getting hit by a car, bleeding out on the street and needing to be taken to an emergency room. We're talking about 54% of the entire cost of the IFHP covering these supplementary benefits. These are things that Canadians don't even receive without paying out of pocket or going through their private insurer.
I'm going to move on.
Between 2020 and 2024, the PBO says the IFHP's costs grew from $211 million to $896 million. What specifically failed in our immigration system? Maybe it's an issue with Liberal policy design that allowed the program to more than quadruple in cost in just five years.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Programs, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
The significant increase in the number of asylum claimants has driven up the cost of the IFHP. The federal government, however, has worked to bring down costs by introducing the copay model and—
Conservative
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
You talked about the influx of asylum claimants. The PBO estimates that—
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
Mr. Ho, I'm going to have to cut you off there. I've stopped the clock.
The bells are ringing in the House. We're being asked to vote in the next 30 minutes.
Is everyone in agreement that we continue the meeting for 15 minutes, which would leave us 15 minutes to go and vote?
Bloc
The Vice-Chair Bloc Alexis Deschênes
Then we will keep working until 12:50.
Mr. Ho, you may continue.