Back in February the Committee had a hearing from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship on Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan. During this meeting, I once again brought the issue of the discriminatory nature of medical inadmissibility in Canada’s immigration system, Section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
Hearing from the Minister on Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan
Following his acknowledgement of the unfairness of Section 38(1)(c), I urged the Minister to act on his words by changing the policy and stop discrimination against people with disabilities. To help him understand the urgency to act, I brought to his attention the case of a care worker who has been separated from her family for a decade now simply because her daughter has a developmental disability, despite requiring no medical treatments and having the capacity of self-care. There are about 1,000 cases across the system in this situation. These families do not have the luxury to wait, they need policy change now.
I also raised the issue of caregivers with abusive employers having to choose between staying in an unsafe situation or resigning and losing their eligibility to apply for Permanent Residency. An interim policy is needed that allows for an interruption in employment. The Deputy Minister said they are reviewing the policy but they have no plan to change anything until November 2019.
Concerning parent/grandparent sponsorship, the Assistant Deputy Minister confirmed that only 9,500 of the 10,000 spots available in the lottery system for 2017 were filled. I am disappointed that these 500 slots have now been lost and will not be added on to the figure for 2018.