WHATSAPPIt was in April 2018, Canada announced that it was relaxing certain rules regarding medical inadmissibility for immigrants. The new decision proved helpful for persons living with medical conditions that required drug treatment like the HIV and the parents of children having certain mental health conditions like autism.
Now Canada has again announced that the country is planning make this 2018 pilot into a permanent policy. As per the earlier rules, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) could stop someone from entering the country if their personal care cost the government more than the Canadian average of about $7000 per year. Many felt that this policy demeaned people with disabilities and was in contradiction to the values upheld by the Canadian society such as inclusion and dignity. But in 2018, Canada tripled this threshold to about $21000 as per the pilot policy of 2018. So now, it is highly unlikely that people who need medical and social supports will be denied entry to Canada.
Persons with excessive demand
As per the Canadian immigration laws, ‘excessive demand’ means any of the following: (i) A medical condition that costs the public exchequer more than the average annual cost for a Canadian. (ii) A medical condition that demands medical treatment which will increase the wait times for the Canadians. These included a broad range of both physical and mental conditions that made a person inadmissible to Canada. Sometimes, even the family members were denied permission to migrate to Canada owing to the medical condition of their dependents.
It was Ahmed Hussen, the then immigration minister of Canada, who took the initiative to introduce a new, more lenient pilot policy. He changed the original definition of excessive demand into three times the average cost of health and social services to a Canadian. Additionally, he changed some of the calculations for determining ‘excessive demand’ including various social services for people with disabilities. These included the costs for special education, occupational and behavioural therapy and personal, non-professional support services including meal preparation, bathing and dressing.
The decision in 2018 brought about many positive changes. The provinces and territories which are responsible for administering health and social services opined that it brought more balance to the procedures. Advocates of persons with disabilities are also of the opinion that removing certain treatments and services from cost calculations eliminated an indignity against such individuals. The decision also saves a lot of time for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as they don’t have to review such factors anymore.
Do you wish to know more about migrating to Canada? Talk to Canapprove’s Canada immigration experts for the right information and the best support to complete the immigration process smoothly.
