How is the $82,000 figure for refugee support in Canada calculated and what expenses does it cover?

1. Where the $82,000 number seems to come from — a stitched‑together tabulation of different program costs

The $82,000 claim typically combines items that are recorded in different budgets or payment streams — one‑time or temporary hotel/accommodation costs for arrivals, the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) income support for up to one year, startup allowances, Interim Federal Health Program expenditures and federal delivery costs — a mix that no single refugee would normally receive as an annual, tax‑free cheque, according to fact‑checks that reviewed RAP rules and ministerial responses ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. RAP: the core cash support is provincial social‑assistance‑based and time‑limited

The principal cash support for government‑assisted refugees is the RAP income support, which is set at prevailing provincial social assistance rates, is intended to cover only basic food and shelter needs, and lasts up to one year or until self‑sufficiency, meaning monthly amounts are far lower than the viral figure implies ^{[3] [4] [2]}.

3. Temporary accommodation and reception centre housing can spike initial costs but are not permanent income

Some arriving refugees are placed in IRCC‑operated hotels or federally funded reception centres and are provided with accommodation and meals while they are relocated, and those room‑and‑board costs are recorded as program expenses — but these are transitional, not ongoing cash payments to individuals, and fact‑checkers note that including them in an annual per‑person income exaggerates the reality ^{[1] [5]}.

4. One‑time start‑up allowances, loans and health coverage are modest and often repayable

Government‑assisted refugees may receive a modest one‑time start‑up allowance (for a single person the historical maximum cited is $905), a small loan for rental deposits and telephone setup, and temporary coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program; resettled refugees often incur travel loans under the Immigration Loans Program (ILP) which is capped for families (e.g., $10,000) and must be repaid — none of these typical items on their own approach tens of thousands of dollars ^{[6] [7] [2]}.

5. Other reported costs that feed the $82,000 math are program delivery and prorated settlement overheads

Analysts and international reporting note that government salary costs, reception‑centre operation, pre‑departure medical screening and settlement program overheads are sometimes prorated across arrivals for accounting purposes (and have been included in Official Development Assistance reporting methodologies), which can inflate a notional per‑person cost if aggregated improperly — but this is an accounting construct, not a cash benefit handed to each refugee ^[8].

6. Why the $82,000 "annual benefit" claim is misleading in practice

Fact‑checks conclude the viral comparison — claiming refugees get $82,000 tax‑free versus an average Canadian income of $63,000 — ignores that RAP payments are monthly amounts tied to provincial social assistance, that many refugees receive no cash support (privately sponsored refugees are supported by sponsors), that some costs are one‑time and some are repayable loans, and that the extreme aggregation required to reach $82,000 represents an unlikely scenario rather than typical support levels ^{[1] [4] [6] [2]}.

7. What is reliably known and where reporting is limited

Official IRCC materials list RAP rates by province and emphasize the program’s limited, basic‑needs purpose, and fact‑checkers provide actual monthly maxima showing amounts far below the viral monthly claims; beyond those sources, estimating a true per‑person public expenditure depends on accounting choices (which overheads to include, whether to prorate one‑time reception costs) — the provided reporting does not support asserting that a typical refugee receives anywhere near $82,000 in direct, annual, tax‑free benefits ^{[3] [9] [2] [1] [8]}.