Liberals scrap asylum claimant health screening to fast-track refugee status

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab has permanently eliminated the requirement for refugee claimants to pay for a second medical exam when applying for permanent residency.

Source: Facebook

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab has permanently eliminated the requirement for refugee claimants to pay for a second medical exam when applying for permanent residency, a move she says will remove barriers to status.

As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement explaining its decision to scrap the medical exam requirement for asylum seekers by amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Taxpayers will still pay for each refugee applicant and their family to receive medical examinations when they first enter Canada and submit asylum claims, but the exemption permanently removes the requirement for a second medical exam when applying for permanent residency, the statement reads.

“The vulnerability of a protected person in Canada can be exacerbated by financial instability, particularly when fees associated with making a permanent residence application delay their application,” the analysis statement reads. “On average…a complete immigration medical examination costs approximately $400 per person, including doctor fees, blood work, exams and X-rays. “

The exemption was in place as a temporary measure since September 10, 2020. It was implemented to “ensure that the cost associated with this examination does not act as a barrier to protected persons in Canada” and to “streamline the permanent residence application process,” the statement notes.

“IRCC conducted a risk assessment, reviewing factors related to public health, public safety, and the potential impact on Canada’s publicly funded health-care system,” the statement reads. “Based on this assessment, it was determined that eliminating the subsequent immigration medical examination requirement for eligible protected persons in Canada is low risk.”

Neither the IRCC nor Diab were immediately available when asked to comment and provide the data they used to determine that the risk to public health was worth helping refugees save money and gain permanent residency.

The amendments exempt protected persons in Canada and their accompanying family members who meet several criteria: they have completed an initial taxpayer-funded medical exam, are applying for permanent residency, and have not spent “six or more months” in a “tuberculosis-designated country or territory,” since their last medical examination.

“Applicants who are required to submit to medical surveillance after their initial immigration medical examination and are found to be non-compliant cannot benefit from this exemption,” the IRCC said in its statement. “They must complete their subsequent immigration medical examination when they apply for permanent residency.”

From the time the temporary public policy came into effect in September 2020 until May 14, 2024, 36,022 “subsequent immigration medical examinations” have been exempted. The IRCC estimates this saved protected persons a collective $3,928,000 annually.

According to Public Health Canada and medical studies, several viruses and diseases are being introduced or reintroduced into Canada through travel and foreign-born individuals.

According to Public Health Canada, 70 per cent of tuberculosis cases in 2019 were among foreign-born individuals. In the same year, 113 measles cases were reported in Canada, of which 37 per cent were imported and 29 per cent “resulted in further transmission.”

The COVID virus and its variants, such as the Omicron variant, arrived in Canada through international travel, even amid vaccine mandates banning “unvaccinated” people from travelling on airplanes and other modes of transport.

Public Health Canada and Public Health Ontario have also linked a resurgence of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV to “travel-related sexual networks and exposure outside of Canada.”