B.C.'s policy for newcomers forcing some to choose between basic health care and food
B.C.'s policy for newcomers forcing some to choose between basic health care and food

British Columbia's three-month waiting period for provincial health benefits is hitting racialized immigrant and migrant women the hardest, forcing them to choose between basic health care or food and other necessities, according to a new study.
Without access to timely routine checkups and testing during the wait period, particularly for pregnant parents and newborn babies, health conditions can worsen and have lifelong consequences, researchers at the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity at the University of British Columbia found.
With clear evidence of the harm done to mostly poor and racialized migrants by B.C.'s policy, a coalition of 19 migrant rights, poverty reduction, civil liberties and labour groups are calling on the province to repeal the policy permanently.
“We can talk for days about the health impacts of the policy,” said Omar Chu, an organizer with Sanctuary Health in the Lower Mainland. “And at the same time, it's also an emotional impact of people who struggle for permanent residence, they're not eligible for the universal public health care that so many Canadians consider a core value.”
When someone moves to B.C., whether from another province or from another country on any type of visa, they are not eligible for basic provincial health coverage for the remainder of the month they arrived, plus two additional calendar months.
B.C. is the only province that has such a wait period without exceptions for newborn babies and pregnancy-related and emergency health care, as is the case in Quebec and Ontario. Other provinces don't have a wait period. New Brunswick abolished its waiting period in 2010.
As the pandemic struck in March 2020, B.C. removed its waiting period for three months in response to the pandemic and extended MSP coverage briefly to temporary foreign workers.
When the measures ended in July 2020, Health Minister Adrian Dix defended the waiting period.
“We have a 90-day rule which means people cannot just come here and on the first day get health care, and get that health care at the cost of everyone in B.C.,” he said. “It's fundamental to the way that we run our public health-care system in B.C.”
The Tyee has reached out to the premier's office and the Health Ministry for comment.
Chu said advocates have been seeking an end to the waiting period for decades and the pandemic has shown how urgently change is needed.
“With cases spiking again, there's no reason we should be disincentivizing people from accessing the health-care system,” he said.
In an open letter sent to Premier John Horgan, Opposition Leader Shirley Bond and Dix, Sanctuary Health and 18 other organizations said the policy violated a number of human rights' conventions.
“Immigrant women perceive and experience the policy as deeply xenophobic, making them feel unwelcome and perpetuating mistrust and barriers to accessing needed health care for women,” read the letter.
Racialized immigrant and migrant workers often have jobs in front-line services, food processing and manufacturing, where they are more likely to contract COVID-19.
The pandemic has also caused delays of months and years in processing visas, work and residence permits. Migrants' eligibility for MSP lapses each time their status does.
If someone's student visa expires before their work permit is granted due to pandemic delays, Chu said, that lapse means they have to wait three months all over again for coverage.
And many can't afford or aren't eligible for private insurance to fill the gap, as pregnancy and other common health issues are considered pre-existing conditions and not covered.
The wait period for health coverage also applies to newborn babies whose parents are not yet eligible for MSP.
Study co-author Shira Goldenberg, director of research education at the centre and an assistant professor in global health at Simon Fraser University, said the lack of care for women and children during the waiting period leads to more expensive and invasive care being required once they are insured.
“There are health-care needs that can't wait, like pregnancy, and that puts families in an impossible situation,” Goldenberg said in an interview.
“Many women ended up with more significant issues due to care being delayed.”
While some agencies can help fill the health-care gaps, the need to find workarounds increases the sense of racism and xenophobia many of the 47 women interviewed for the study said they faced in the health-care system.
The result is that migrants feel less deserving of care and less likely to seek it when needed in the future, Goldenberg said.
Both Chu and Goldenberg hope the province acts urgently on this evidence as the Omicron-driven fifth wave surges in B.C.
“The waiting period policy doesn't align with the values that I think most British Columbians think we hold in terms of being an inclusive and welcoming province, and then here we are having one of the most xenophobic health-care policies in Canada,” said Goldenberg.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More Canadian troops headed to Latvia, Trudeau says at NATO summit
Canada will be sending more troops to Latvia as part of a pledge to upgrade and strengthen the NATO battlegroup it is leading there, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

Supreme Court says expanded rape shield laws are constitutional
The Supreme Court of Canada says the expanded rules to further prevent a sexual assault complainant's past from being used against them in a trial are 'constitutional in their entirety.'
'What were they waiting for?' Woman inside Saanich bank amid shootout describes 'calm' gunmen
A woman who was trapped inside a bank during a robbery and fatal shootout with police near Victoria on Tuesday says there is one question still plaguing her a day later: Why didn't the gunmen just leave with the money?
Snowbirds cancel Canada Day fly-over in Ottawa
The traditional Canada Day fly-past over Ottawa by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds has been cancelled, following a problem with the aircraft's emergency ejection parachute that grounded the fleet.
Nutrition warnings coming to the front of pre-packaged food in Canada
Canada will require that companies add nutrition warnings to the front of pre-packaged food with high levels of saturated fat, sugar or sodium in an effort to help grocery shoppers make healthier choices with just a glance.
What your Canada Day BBQ will cost with hot inflation
The Canada Day long weekend is the perfect time for burgers on the grill, cold drinks and time with family and friends. Yet a backyard barbecue comes with a bigger price tag this year as food prices soared 9.7 per cent in May.
WHO: COVID-19 cases rising nearly everywhere in the world
The number of new coronavirus cases rose by 18 per cent in the last week, with more than 4.1 million cases reported globally, according to the World Health Organization.
New clean fuel regulations to raise gas prices, affect low-income Canadians most
New federal regulations to force down the greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and diesel will cost Canadians up to 13 cents more per litre at the pump by 2030.
Ontario gas prices about to take huge drop and this is the best time to fill up
Ontario gas prices are about to take a huge drop and one expert says it will be 'well worth waiting' if drivers can hold off on filling up.