Cost threshold update for excessive demand on health and social services

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) released an update to the cost threshold for excessive demand on health and social services.

As part of the immigration application decision making, the federal government determines whether an individual might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services in Canada.

The "excessive demand" is defined in section 1(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations as follows:

• a demand on health services or social services for which the anticipated costs would likely exceed average Canadian per capita health services and social services costs over a period of five consecutive years immediately following the most recent medical examination required under paragraph 16(2)(b) of the Act, unless there is evidence that significant costs are likely to be incurred beyond that period, in which case the period is no more than 10 consecutive years; or

• a demand on health services or social services that would add to existing waiting lists and would increase the rate of mortality and morbidity in Canada as a result of an inability to provide timely services to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

As IRCC indicated, the average Canadian per capita health and social services cost has increased from $6,604 to $6,839, and 3 times that average has been updated from $19,812 to $20,517.