Requiring foreign nationals to undergo a broader battery of tests for communicable diseases would heighten Canada’s immigration system and public health security, say immigration lawyers.
On Tuesday, interim auditor general John Wiersema said visa applicants aren’t being properly assessed for risks they might pose to Canadian health, safety and security due to sloppy screening measures, outdated information and poor staff training. Medical screening is carried out only for syphilis and tuberculosis — the same two diseases as 50 years ago – even though 56 diseases are reportable in Canada today.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency — which share responsibility for identifying dangers to Canadians — still lack the tools, information and “basic elements” they need to make the right call.
“We’ve been reporting some of these problems with visas for 20 years, and I find it disturbing that fundamental weaknesses still exist,” Wiersema said. “It’s time that CIC and CBSA work together to resolve them.”
Ottawa-based immigration lawyer Julie Taub said “without question” the government should expand medical examinations to improve the systems.
“It would strengthen it to the benefit of the immigrants and citizens that are already in Canada, and it would ease the burden on our health care system,” she told iPolitics. “We have enough problems with our health care system without importing people who will be a burden on the health care system.”
The audit notes that global events in the past decade have changed threats to Canadian society: disease can spread around the world fast, and acts of terrorism and organized crime have driven home the need to identify people who might pose a security risk.
Toronto immigration lawyer Lorne Waldman said flaws in the security screening system is a huge problem and that the auditor’s report “hits the nail on the head.”
“But it works both ways. Undoubtedly, when you have a system that’s not working properly you have some bad people who are getting in, but genuine people who shouldn’t be subject to security concerns are also being denied admission on spurious grounds,” he said in an interview.
Waldman is not opposed to wider screening for health problems, but warned it could be expensive and create further delays in an already clogged applications system if testing is too broad. He also noted tourists and other short-term visitors to Canada aren’t tested, even though they could also spread infectious diseases.
“The problem with this kind of report is that it stirs fear and concern among the public, and what needs to happen now is the professionals need to sit down, look at this both from the point of view of the public health risks and the scientific evidence, and balance that with the practical implications of screening to come up with some modifications but not the type of screening that would make the system unworkable,” he said. “Because then we may as well close it down.”
Foreign nationals who want to enter Canada as permanent residents, or on a temporary basis, must obtain a Canadian visa, unless they are from a visa-exempt county. In 2010, 1.36 million visas, including 317,000 permanent resident visas, were processed at Canadian missions in foreign countries, according to the auditor’s report.
Before a visa is issued, CIC officials must determine admissibility based on risks related to health, safety and security of Canadians. An assessment is made based on analysis and intelligence from CSIS and the RCMP.
CIC has 15 medical officers worldwide who oversee a network of labs, clinics and 1,000 physicians in 189 countries. Visa applicants can be rejected if they are deemed to be a danger to public health or safety, or if they might cause excessive demand on Canadian health care or social services.
Only two diseases have defined the screening practice for the past 50 years — syphilis and tuberculosis. Mandatory HIV testing has been implemented since 2002, with the anticipated public health benefit of early detection, treatment and prevention, but people with HIV will not be denied access to Canada for public health reasons unless they are deemed to be an excess demand on services.
CIC spokesman Bill Brown said the department welcomes the report, agrees with all of its recommendations, and has already started to work with CBSA to put them in place in a “timely manner.”
On the issue of medical screening, he said many conditions on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s list of diseases that require national surveillance do not pose a danger to public health because they can’t be transmitted from one person to another. Other conditions on the list are acute and easily treated.
“CIC works closely with PHAC to validate the scientific evidence that supports our policy decisions on which infectious diseases should be screened,” he said. “We are currently working to more precisely define what is considered a danger to public health and will seek technical input from PHAC to decide if we should add additional testing for any other infectious diseases that may pose a danger to public health.”
Many other risk factors key to identifying inadmissible foreign nationals haven’t been reviewed or updated in years.
As a whole, Wiersema found that poor management of information is a “widespread chronic problem” in the federal government. Managers are not systematically collecting and using the information they need to manage their programs and they aren’t held accountable for it.
“I encourage government, as it undertakes the current review of spending, to ensure these core elements are in place to secure the success of continuing programs,” he said.
kathleenharris@ipolitics.ca
© 2011 iPolitics Inc.
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