Citizenship and Immigration Canada is asking pharmacists to ignore the directive to make refugees pay upfront, and promises to improve the reimbursement system. (CBC)

Quebec pharmacists are being urged by their association to refuse to supply prescription drugs to thousands of refugees and asylum seekers unless they are paid up front.

Vincent Forcier, a spokesman for the association representing 1,734 pharmacists in the province, said Tuesday it can take up to three years to get reimbursed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for drugs given to refugees under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP).

He said some pharmacists are owed tens of thousands of dollars.

Norbert Gilmore, who works with refugees and is a specialist in infectious diseases, said refugees may stop taking their medication if they are asked to pay, and that will end up costing the health-care system even more.

"Most of these persons who come here have very little money. They come from impoverished countries, they're fleeing persecution. It's a tough job for them to settle in, and they don't have the money to pay for these medications.

"So they are effectively going without, and that's the crisis we're facing," Gilmore said.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued a statement Tuesday urging Quebec pharmacists to ignore the association's directive to demand payment up front.

"The CIC is working on arrangements to provide an alternate service for IFHP recipients in Quebec," the department said.

"On Jan. 17, 2011, Medavie Blue Cross assumed responsibility for the administration of the IFHP. One of the key elements of their contract is to improve the reimbursement time for pharmacists for submitted claims," the statement said. "Reimbursement claims are processed in 14 days if the claim is submitted electronically, and 21 days if the claim is submitted by mail."

The IFHP provides emergency and essential health services for particular groups of newcomers not otherwise covered by provincial, territorial or privately funded health insurance plans, and who do not have the means to pay.

This includes certain resettled refugees, refugee claimants awaiting determination, failed claimants awaiting removal from Canada and victims of human trafficking.

Through the IFHP, claimants can seek treatment from an appropriate health professional, who later can submit a claim for reimbursement to Medavie Blue Cross.