Your gateway to Canada

Immigration Newsweek

By Atty. Henry Moyal

Being inadmissible to Canada means you are not able to enter the country until a certain period of time passes or fulfilled certain conditions of entry. An applicant who is found to be inadmissible will be denied an ETA and/or denied entry to Canada and/or if in Canada will be removed. There are several ways by which a person can be found to be inadmissible under current immigration laws. For example:

• Security reasons, including espionage, violence or terrorism or membership in an organization involved human or international rights violations

• Committing a crime – this is often to referred to as criminally inadmissible and covers convictions that occur in Canada or outside of Canada. In some situations, even if a person was not convicted of a crime outside of Canada but the act is something that would be a crime in Canada – could render a person inadmissible.

If such situations, it would be important to perform an analysis between the foreign law and the Canadian law to find the equivalent Criminal Code provision. Once done a person would have to wait a certain time (called rehabilitation) in order to apply to enter Canada. If a person was convicted of a crime in Canada in most cases they would require a record suspension (pardon).

• Organized crime, including membership in an organization that takes part in organized criminal activity, people smuggling or money laundering

• Medical Inadmissibility – this includes medical conditions that:
  • endanger public health
  • endanger public safety or
  • causes excessive demand on health or social services

To be admissible an applicant must not have a condition that is a danger or risk to others and must not have a condition that is an excessive demand on health or social services. A visa officer will refuse an application if they reasonably believe that a person’s health condition might cause an excessive demand on health or social services in accordance with section 38(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

An excessive demand on health or social services can mean two things. It can mean that the need for health services to treat your health condition would negatively affect medical service wait times in Canada. It can also mean that the services to treat and manage your health condition would likely cost more than 3 times the Canadian average for health and social services(per person.

The cost threshold is the average dollar amount that federal, provincial and territorial governments spend in a year on health and social services for Canadians and permanent residents.

In 2017, the excessive demand cost threshold was $33,275 over 5 years (or $6,655 per year).

In April of 2018, the cost threshold was $99,060 over 5 years (or $19,812 per year)

In 2019, the new cost threshold is $102,585 over 5 years (or $20,517 per year)

• Misrepresentation, which includes providing false information or withholding information directly related to decisions made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). A common example would be a person who does not tell the truth on an immigration application (even if minor). A finding of misrepresentation will usually come with a 5 year ban on entering Canada.

If you have concerns regarding any ground of inadmissibility, it is recommended to do the research and obtain the proper legal assistance from a qualified immigration lawyer before an application is submitted.

Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed immigration lawyer in Toronto, Ontario.
The above article is general advice only and is not intended to act as a legal document.
Send questions to Attorney Moyal by email canada@moyal.com or call 416 733 3193