FAQ – Immigration and HIV Testing

Immigration and HIV Testing: What you need to know (2005)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada requires a medical exam for all immigrants and refugees. The medical exam includes a screening test for HIV for everyone over the age of 15. If you are under 15, but have an HIV-positive parent, have received blood or blood products or are going to be adopted in Canada, you will also be tested for HIV. On most applications for status in Canada, you will be asked if you have any serious illnesses. If you say no and later Immigration finds out that you lied, Immigration could try to remove you from Canada.

Being HIV positive can be a problem if you want to become a permanent resident of Canada. Canada’s immigration law says some people are “inadmissible” to Canada. This means you are not allowed to come into or stay in Canada. There are different kinds of “inadmissibility”. For example, you could be inadmissible because of a criminal record (criminal inadmissibility), or because you have a medical problem (medical inadmissibility). Medical inadmissibility means you would be a danger to public health or safety, or that you would cause too much demand on Canada’s health and/or social services (excessive demand). HIV is not considered a danger to public health or safety, but is usually seen to cause excessive demand on health and/or social services.