Wels wrote:Greetings!
According to my collecting total points, I have been eligible for the immigration to Canada, but I have a question before going through the applying process. My family consists of wife and four kids. The second son of my four kids is Down syndrome case. Is that issue will be a cause for the Canadian government to refuse my application?
Kindly advise me.
Hello and welcome to the forum. With regards to the question, that would depend on the cost of taking care of your son for the Canadian government. As you may know, Canadian Helathcare system is publically funded. If the cost of taking care of your son is perceived by the Government to place an ‘excessive’ demand on the healthcare system or social services (such as special needs education) than they may turn down your application. However, if the care does not place an ‘excessive’ demand, than they will approve the application (provided you meet all other requirements).
The amount of excessive demand is a bit over $5,000 per year (which is the average cost of taking care of each Canadian).
You may want to read the following:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/ ... ob063b.asp
The cost would depend on how much your son would personally need from the healthcare and social services to take care of him. And would differ from individual to individual.
You need to know what it would cost the government to take care of your son. There have been cases where potential immigrants have successfully shown that they will not be an excessive demand on the system and were approved (even after they were initially told otherwise by the CIC). They have done so by getting referrals from doctors, schools and social services in Canada. Don’t necessarily be disheartened by excessive demand criteria, as it is possible to be approved.
In addition to above individuals/organisations, you may also want to contact the Canadian Down Syndrome Society (
http://www.cdss.ca/), they might be able to give you some ideas or may put you in touch with people/organisations who might be able to help further.
Another Canadian organisation that might be able to help is Ups and Downs (
http://www.upsdowns.org/).
Please note that for both of the above organisations, they may not be able to provide information from immigration perspective, but might be able to help with regards to costs associated with taking care of someone with down syndrome (which could help answer your question).
You may also want to post your question on British Expat forum, as there are some families who have gone through the process of understanding excessive demand issues.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=33
In addition to posting your question there, you may also want to search for previous discussions on the subject. Search for ‘excessive demand’ and for ‘down syndrome’
In particular, also look at the following specific threads:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthre ... n+syndrome
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthre ... ive+demand
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthre ... ive+demand
Hope this helps. Best wishes to your son and the rest of your family. And Happy New Year.
Ray
