Dear Mr Brown,

My child has Down’s syndrome. Will he be able to come with me should I be successful under the Express Entry programme? I was told that he may be medically inadmissible.

— TG

Dear TG:

Canadian immigration law requires every applicant for permanent residency to undergo a medical examination to determine whether the applicant meets the medical standards of admissibility by a medical officer, which includes:

• A mental examination;

• A physical examination; and

• A review or examination of medical records, laboratory tests, and diagnostic tests.

An applicant is required to be examined by a doctor whose name appears on a list of designated medical practitioners, unless one is unavailable, in which case the applicant is permitted to select a doctor. The designated medical officer prepares a medical profile based on the test results and gives an opinion about whether the person is admissible, inadmissible, or requires medical surveillance.

Medical issues

Applicants suffering from a disease, disorder, disability, or other health impairment are assessed to determine whether:

• They will or are likely to be a danger to public health, such as a communicable disease;

• They are likely to be a danger to public safety, such as a mental condition that causes unpredictable or violent behaviour; and

• Their admission would cause or may reasonably be expected to cause excessive demands on health or social services.

Changes to medical inadmissibility

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has announced changes to the medical inadmissibility provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which reflects inclusion of people with disabilities.

Under the current law, medical demand is found to be excessive if it exceeds the average annual health care costs for a Canadian, which is estimated at $6,655.

Accordingly, the Government is allowed to deny permanent residency in Canada because the applicant or an immediate family member has a disability or medical condition that could place excessive demand on publicly funded health and social service programmes. This often means denying residency to parents whose children have disabilities.

The proposed changes include:

• increasing the cost threshold for medical inadmissibility to three times the previous level; and

• amending the definition of social services by removing references to special education, social and vocational rehabilitation services and personal support services.

Although the number of refusals based on medical inadmissibility was relatively low, denying applicants based on having a disability seemed inconsistent with modern values, especially when the health condition or disability is readily accommodated in Canada.

Every year approximately 1,000 permanent and temporary resident applicants receive a medical inadmissibility finding. This is 0.2 per cent of applicants who undergo medical screening. In 2015 the savings to provinces and territories due to the medical inadmissibility policy represented just 0.1 per cent of all publicly funded health spending in Canada.

Autism and Down’s syndrome

Amending the definition of social services will bring greater balance between protecting Canada’s public health care system and supporting the participation of people with disabilities — including intellectual disabilities, people with hearing or visual impairments, and others in society.

While the new rules could still see some applicants denied residency due to medical expenses, such as elderly parents with serious health care needs trying to be reunited with their children in Canada, the changes mean conditions such as HIV/AIDS and many forms of heart disease will no longer be a major obstacle to immigration.

The changes are especially meaningful to immigrants whose children have intellectual disabilities such as autism or Down’s syndrome.

The changes will take effect immediately. Families whose applications have been denied in the past, due to special education costs related to a child’s disability, will need to reapply if they wish to be considered under the new rules.

Please visit jamaica2canada.com for additional information on Canadian Permanent Residence programmes, including Express Entry, the Study & Work programme, visas or appeals, etc.

Antonn Brown, BA, (Hons), LLB, MSc, RCIC, is an immigration counsel and an accredited Canadian education agent of JAMAICA2CANADA.COM — a Canadian immigration & education firm in Kingston. Send questions/comments to jamaica2canada@gmail.com .