Starting in April, Ottawa will fully restore health-care coverage for all refugees and asylum claimants to the pre-2012 levels, before cuts were made by the previous Tory government.

In a surprise twist, the Liberal government said it will also expand the Interim Federal Health Program by including coverage for refugees designated for resettlement to Canada before they arrive — a plan that was not part of its election pledge.

By April 2017, these selected overseas refugees waiting to come here will receive coverage for their immigration medical exam, pre-departure vaccinations, services to manage disease outbreaks in refugee camps and medical supports during travel to Canada.

Currently, the health program for refugees has a $51-million annual budget and the new measures will cost an additional $12.5 million in expenditures per annum, Immigration Minister John McCallum said on Thursday.

“Canadians from many walks of life, from premiers to front-line health-care professionals, to Canadians who privately sponsor refugees, spoke with one voice in rejecting the changes made to the Interim Federal Health Program in 2012. We have listened, and coverage will be restored,” he said.

“However, that expenditure is still below the amount that has already been budgeted of $51 million per year, so there will be zero net addition in the fiscal framework. All of these expenditures will be within the existing budget.”

Critics and refugee health advocates welcomed the reversal of the cuts and were pleasantly surprised by the expansion of the health program to include both government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees for resettlement to Canada prior to their arrival.

“We are happy the federal government is fully reversing the cuts and finally ending the discriminatory regime of the previous Conservative government,” said Dr. Philip Berger of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, a group that took Ottawa to court on behalf of two failed refugees who were denied care.

“The decision is a relief not just for the refugee community but also for front-line health service providers.”

However, Aaron Wudrick of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said he is skeptical of the government’s zero-net-addition claim.

“Canadians need to be careful. We have responsibilities for the refugees we bring over. When we appear to be overly generous while we have Canadians struggling, it’s going to frustrate a lot of them,” Wudrick said.

In 2012, former Conservative Immigration Minister Jason Kenney axed the coverage for many refugees in 2012 in order to save $100 million over five years, but the move was universally condemned by health-care advocacy groups and provinces that ended up footing the bills.

As a result of the cuts, all refugee claimants lost supplemental health benefits for prescription drugs, dental work, vision care and medical devices, while failed refugees awaiting deportation and asylum seekers from Ottawa’s so-called “safe countries” were stripped of access to all government-funded health services such as visits to doctors and hospitals.

Six provinces, including Ontario, have since stepped up and filled the gaps by offering temporary health coverage for affected refugees.

“Providing these services is not only fair, it saves our health-care system money in the long term by cutting down on costly emergency visits,” Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins said in a statement.

Thursday’s announcement means refugees and asylum seekers in Canada will all have access to basic health care similar to provincial health-care insurance, as well as supplemental services such as vision and urgent dental care and prescription drugs that are available to Canadians on government assistance.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said the system, currently with 15 different beneficiary categories and six different levels of care, has been “fragmented and chaotic” and confusing for refugees and health-care providers.

“What the system that Minister McCallum has announced will do is simplify everything. There will be one path,” said Philpott.

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NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan was cautiously optimistic about the changes.

“Restoring the Interim Federal Health Program for refugees is long overdue. We’re pleased to see this finally happen,” said Kwan.

“These refugees fleeing atrocities need adequate access to health care. But it begs the question why the Liberals are leaving all the refugees who are coming before April 2017 to cover their own medical examination, especially when they (already) are covering it for the Syrian refugees.”