Temporary residents: Persons wishing to enter Canada for the purpose of giving birth

Under paragraph 3(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, persons born in Canada are Canadian citizens. This right applies to all persons born in Canada, irrespective of the status in Canada of their parents, other than persons born to accredited diplomats.

There are no elements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) that refer to this right. Giving birth in Canada does not represent a violation of any terms or conditions that may be applied to a temporary resident. Thus, there is no provision in the IRPA to refuse a temporary resident visa (TRV) solely on the basis of the intent of the applicant to give birth in Canada.

When it is known that an applicant is pregnant, assessment of the application should focus on the requirements applied to all applicants for a TRV. The fact of the pregnancy may be an element in the assessment but only insofar as it affects the assessment of the primary requirements for issuance of a TRV:

• Do applicants have sufficient funds?
• Will they leave Canada at the end of their period of authorized stay?
• Are they admissible?

Consideration of the pregnancy and the stated or apparent intent to give birth in Canada must relate back to one of these essential requirements for TRV issuance.

Guidelines for persons coming forward for medical treatment may provide officers with assistance in assessing applications from persons who are known to be pregnant and intending to give birth in Canada at the time of the TRV application. However, it is important to note that pregnancy would not normally present concerns regarding medical inadmissibility.

With the introduction of the Temporary Public Policy Regarding Excessive Demand on Health and Social Services on June 1, 2018, the health-care costs related to a high‑risk pregnancy (prenatal care and delivery) do not exceed the excessive demand threshold. An assessment of excessive demand on health or social services do not apply to the future child, who will become a citizen at birth. Concerns regarding the demands that may be placed on health and social services by the child after birth in Canada may not be used in assessing the medical admissibility of the TRV applicant.

In applying the guidelines on temporary residents seeking medical treatment in Canada, officers should focus on available financial support as part of their assessment of admissibility.

A medical examination should be requested only in exceptional cases, where the information from the examination would be material to the assessment of the application.

The application form for a TRV asks the applicant if they or any accompanying family members have any physical or mental disorders that will require social or health services during their stay in Canada. Answering “No” to this question should not normally be considered misrepresentation in the case of a pregnant applicant, given the terminology used. Pregnancy may not normally be viewed as a “medical condition.”

However, pregnancy or the intent to give birth in Canada may be material facts in the assessment of the application, which, if we are not advised of the pregnancy, may go unexamined; such facts may be material to the assessment of arrangements for treatment, of the financial ability to cover the costs of treatment or of the intent to depart from Canada, for example. Therefore, in some cases, the intentional concealment of intent to give birth in Canada may lead to an examination of admissibility under section 40 of the IRPA.