The following submission was co-authored by NLS lawyer Jennifer Stone. The introduction to the document is produced below. The entire submission is available in .pdf format.

Family Day was celebrated earlier this week in Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, and last week in British Columbia. On the occasion of celebrating time spent with family, we urge you to keep in mind our friends and neighbours who long to be reunited with theirs.

Last year, the Federal Government cut the Interim Federal Health Program to deny basic health care to refugee claimants in Canada. The move was strongly criticized by most stake-holders across the country, including immigration and refugee advocates, human rights activists, and doctors. Many believed that cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program were designed by the government to appeal to its core supporters but would not save the government any money. In fact, the cuts raised concerns about more expensive emergency treatment, and the spectre of a public health crisis if refugees were refused any preventative care or treatment. 

This information update is provided courtesy of HALCO

In May 2013, the government announced proposed changes to Canada’s immigration regulations that will affect people who want to bring their children to Canada. In most cases, the law allows a person to include any “dependent children” in his or her application for permanent residence.  The law also allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their dependent children to come to Canada.  

The proposal would make two major changes to the definition of “dependent children”:

• the maximum age would be reduced to 18 years of age from the current 21 years. 
• full-time students over age 18 would no longer be eligible as dependent children.

The proposal is expected to become law on January 1, 2014. If you apply before January 1, 2014 (or have already applied), your children will be considered under the current law.  

This year NLS is marking its 40th year of providing legal services to the low income residents of Toronto’s downtown east side. Only a few in the community now will recall that day in 1973 when the clinic opened its door in a house on Seaton Street. While the community has changed and continues to change in what is really a process of continual renewal, the basic legal needs the clinic addresses have not changed much. Fighting through the Courts and Tribunals, through law reform campaigns and through outreach and public legal education for better and more secure housing, better and more secure incomes and more secure status in Canada for immigrants and their families has been the mainstay of our work throughout the past 4 decades. 

There are many benefits to being a Canadian citizen, one of which is the absolute right to enter and remain in Canada.  Equally important is the right to vote. Recently the Canadian government has made changes to how it screens applications for citizenship. These changes are more “enforcement” oriented than ever before. NLS is concerned that recent changes have the potential to disproportionately further disenfranchise people already living on the margins for reasons of mental health or poverty; these applicants will be less likely to overcome the increased barriers to citizenship.

The federal government is scaling back temporary health care coverage for refugees and refugee claimants. The government claims that these changes are aimed at reducing “extra” healthcare coverage supposedly provided to refugee claimants, compared with what Canadians receive.