People living with HIV are allowed to travel to Canada. However, HIV status is one factor considered by the Government of Canada when deciding if a person can stay in Canada for an extended period of time. This Q&A provides information on how Canadian immigration law and policy affect people living with HIV who wish … Read more
Today, after years of advocacy by HIV, disability and migrant rights organizations, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship announced changes to the rules that exclude would-be residents of Canada based on projected “excessive demand” on health and social services. These changes, however, fall far short of the full repeal of the current flawed, discriminatory … Read more
OTTAWA, March 27, 2018 – Today, Maurice Tomlinson, Senior Policy Advisor with the Legal Network, spoke to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration about his personal experience of immigrating to Canada and shared recommendations for improving the process for LGBTQ refugee claimants. Click below to download the text of his oral … Read more
“By some estimates, approximately 400 million LGBT persons live under the threat of criminal imprisonment or even death in their home country. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) is faced with thousands of refugee claimants each year trying to escape persecution in their home country simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. While strides have been made to improve the cultural sensitivity of IRB members, more could be done to enhance the cultural competence of IRB members—charged with making decisions about the lives of LGBT persons seeking asylum in Canada.”
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network stands in support of the Private Member’s Bill to repeal Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)—which we called for before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration last November. We hope that Parliamentarians from all parties will vote in favour of this proposal.
Judgement issued by The Honourable Mr. Justice Ahmed on December 19, 2017.
This is an application for judicial review of the decision of the Immigration Appeal Division (“IAD”) to refuse the Applicant A.B.’s appeal to sponsor her parents due to her father’s medical inadmissibility for excessive demand on health services.
OTTAWA November 17, 2017 — Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA”), foreign nationals are inadmissible to Canada if their health condition might reasonably be expected to cause an “excessive demand” on health or social services, or if they have an inadmissible family member. Due to the high cost of antiretroviral medications, people living … Read more
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA”) stipulates that foreign nationals are inadmissible to Canada on health grounds if their health condition might reasonably be expected to cause an “excessive demand” on health or social services, or if they have an inadmissible family member (i.e., an inadmissible spouse or dependent child). In this submission, we will … Read more
“In Canada, people seeking permanent resident status or temporary residence as students or workers can be rejected on the basis of their HIV status due to the ‘excessive demand’ provision of Canada’s laws governing medical inadmissibility. “We recommend that the excessive demand provision be repealed, for the following reasons: The excessive demand provision is discriminatory. … Read more