As we all know, Canada has a regulation that prohibits the issuance of PR if the applicant's health condition will require costly treatment. There is no exact or detailed list of diseases, as everything depends on the province of intended residence, the stage of the illness, and the forecast for the treatment or its stabilization.
There is a list of countries whose residents most often have health issues, as well as the types of illnesses they have depending on the region, as per the report published by the Ministry.
So, two-thirds of applicants who were denied PR on medical grounds came from the following four countries:
·Philippines – 32%
·India – 14%
·China – 13%
·Iran – 7%
Among all rejection cases:
·44% were related to chronic liver or kidney diseases
·23% were due to mental disabilities of the applicant or their family members (autism, developmental delays, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, or multiple sclerosis)
·13% were cancer-related
·4% were HIV or AIDS
·Another 4% were cardiovascular diseases
The top ten countries with health-related rejections also include: South Korea, Pakistan, Egypt, Romania, Bangladesh, and Burundi.
Liver disease most frequently affects applicants from the Philippines (65% of all medical-based rejections are due to the liver disease), residents of India most often suffer from kidney disease (34%), while applicants from China most commonly have cancer (39% of all rejections on medical grounds for Chinese applicants are due to various forms of cancer).
This reference is important for immigration officers when they send an applicant for a medical examination. Although everyone should be treated equally and applications must be reviewed without bias, the applicant’s country of origin plays a significant role. Many medical professionals are given internal instructions to pay close attention to certain medical histories if the applicant comes from the countries mentioned above or has spent a significant amount of time there (usually more than six months).
Applicants from the former Soviet Union typically do not have serious health issues, and therefore their medical exams generally do not require additional testing.
Reminder: as a general rule, if treatment is expected to cost more than CAD 21,798 per year, PR may be denied on medical grounds.
Stay healthy.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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