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chronic stress, thus compromising their immunity and making them
more susceptible to infection.20 Indeed, preliminary data from Canada
and abroad indicate that the current pandemic disproportionately
impacts low-income, racialized neighbourhoods.21
Othering of Migrants in Canada’s COVID-19 Responses
Despite being subjected to an elevated risk of infection, many migrants
in Canada remain left out of government programs that are key to pre-
venting and alleviating the deleterious impact of COVID-19, includ-
ing health care and income support.
Prior to the pandemic, migrants’ entitlement to publicly
funded health care in Canada depended on their immigration and
resident statuses, and it sometimes varied from one province/terri-
tory to another.22 Broadly speaking, provincial and territorial health
care plans covered all permanent residents. Some jurisdictions also
extended coverage to both migrant workers and international stu-
dents, while others only the former; in approximately half of the prov-
inces and territories, these temporary residents must possess a permit
valid for at least six months to qualify, whereas in the other half their
permit must be good for one year or longer. In Quebec, Ontario, and
British Columbia, eligible migrants generally had to wait for up to
three months before their health care coverage would take effect.
Some refugees and asylum seekers received health care from a federal
program instead, but undocumented migrants were excluded from all
government health care benefits.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 outbreaks, several prov-
inces have decided to expand migrants’ entitlement under their
20. Sylvia Reitmanova & Diana Gustafson, “Rethinking Immigrant Tuberculosis
Control in Canada: From Medical Surveillance to Tackling Social Determinants
of Health” (2012) 14 J Immigrant & Minority Health 6.
21. See e.g. Hannah Chung et al, COVID-19 Laboratory Testing in Ontario: Patterns ofÂ
TestingÂ
andÂ
CharacteristicsÂ
ofÂ
IndividualsÂ
Tested,Â
asÂ
ofÂ
April 30,Â
2020, (Toronto: ICES,
2020) at 14, online: <ices.on.ca/Publications/Atlases-and-Reports/2020/COVID-
19-Laboratory-Testing-in-Ontario>; Jarvis T Chen & Nancy Krieger, “Revealing
the Unequal Burden of COVID-19 by Income, Race/Ethnicity, and Household
Crowding: US County vs. ZIP Code Analyses” (2020) Harvard Center for
Population and Development Studies Working Paper 19:1, online: <tinyurl.com/
ya44we2r>.
22. YY Brandon Chen, “Social Determinants & Marginalized Populations” in Joanna
Erdman, Vanessa Gruben & Erin Nelson, eds, CanadianÂ
HealthÂ
LawÂ
andÂ
Policy, 5th
ed (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2017) 527.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International