There were 102 babies born to surrogate moms in British Columbia in 2016 and 2017.
of those, 45 were babies for parents from other countries.
parents who travelled here to have their child delivered in Canada, who before they left picked up a Canadian citizenship for their child and who left Canadian taxpayers with the bills for the pregnancy of their surrogate mom as well as costs for the delivery and postnatal care of their newborn.
We know this thanks to reporting by freelance Globe and Mail writer alison Motluk, who earlier this month wrote about Canada increasingly becoming a destination for international surrogacy.
It's understandable that foreign parents, especially those who may need to turn to surrogacy to have a child, would find Canada and a bonus Canadian citizenship for their child attractive.
Surrogacy is prohibited in many countries and few countries permit surrogacy for nonresidents, let alone pay for costs associated with the surrogate mom's pregnancy, delivery and postnatal care costs.
Without doubt, some of those parents are likely desperate to have children and may have few options. on compassionate grounds, their desire to seek surrogacy here may be compelling.
however, an open-door policy for birth tourism is also troubling.
Why is citizenship being handed out to the children of birth tourists as a going away prize?
Citizenship is a privilege, something often earned at great cost and difficulty for the many millions of Canadians who immigrated to this country and made it their home.
Why on earth should Canadian taxpayers foot the hospital bills for foreign couples who want to have their babies in this country — $3,000 to $6,000 for uneventful births to potentially more than $90,000 for premature babies with complications?
Is birth tourism something we should be encouraging?
and although B.C. tracks residency data on parents, other provinces don't.
So we're not even sure of the scope of birth tourism in this country, let alone its costs.
as Brian lilley wrote in the Sun on this issue, real Women of Canada wants ottawa to close loopholes that permit taxpayer subsidization for foreign surrogacy — something many european countries have already done.
Without such change, there's little doubt Canada increasingly will become a destination for birth tourism.
I bet the USA closes this option one day
But Canada being underpopulated may keep this option open since the government doesn't feel we have enough immigrants & a future workforce to sustain the pension plans
Quote from: "seoulbro"
of those, 45 were babies for parents from other countries.
parents who travelled here to have their child delivered in Canada, who before they left picked up a Canadian citizenship for their child and who left Canadian taxpayers with the bills for the pregnancy of their surrogate mom as well as costs for the delivery and postnatal care of their newborn.
We know this thanks to reporting by freelance Globe and Mail writer alison Motluk, who earlier this month wrote about Canada increasingly becoming a destination for international surrogacy.
It's understandable that foreign parents, especially those who may need to turn to surrogacy to have a child, would find Canada and a bonus Canadian citizenship for their child attractive.
Surrogacy is prohibited in many countries and few countries permit surrogacy for nonresidents, let alone pay for costs associated with the surrogate mom's pregnancy, delivery and postnatal care costs.
Without doubt, some of those parents are likely desperate to have children and may have few options. on compassionate grounds, their desire to seek surrogacy here may be compelling.
however, an open-door policy for birth tourism is also troubling.
Why is citizenship being handed out to the children of birth tourists as a going away prize?
Citizenship is a privilege, something often earned at great cost and difficulty for the many millions of Canadians who immigrated to this country and made it their home.
Why on earth should Canadian taxpayers foot the hospital bills for foreign couples who want to have their babies in this country — $3,000 to $6,000 for uneventful births to potentially more than $90,000 for premature babies with complications?
Is birth tourism something we should be encouraging?
and although B.C. tracks residency data on parents, other provinces don't.
So we're not even sure of the scope of birth tourism in this country, let alone its costs.
as Brian lilley wrote in the Sun on this issue, real Women of Canada wants ottawa to close loopholes that permit taxpayer subsidization for foreign surrogacy — something many european countries have already done.
Without such change, there's little doubt Canada increasingly will become a destination for birth tourism.
It's not fair to Canadian taxpayers and it's not fair to immigrants who come here through proper channels.
By Brian Lilley
Foreign parents finding surrogate moms in Canada is on the rise.
Call it birth tourism of another kind.
We've all heard stories about mothers arriving in Canadian cities just in time to give birth so their child can get Canadian citizenship.
But what about foreign parents having a kid in Canada via surrogacy?
It is happening and it is growing.
In 2016 and 2017 there were 102 babies born to surrogate mothers in British Columbia. A shocking
45 of those babies were born to parents from outside of the country.
Here is the crazy part — you are paying for it and the baby that is quickly whisked off to a foreign land is granted automatic Canadian citizenship.
The numbers, first reported by freelance journalist Alison Motluk in the Globe and Mail, show what experts believe to be a growing issue in Canada.
While surrogacy is tightly regulated in Canada, we are one of a handful of countries that allow foreign parents to find a surrogate within our borders. We also have "free" healthcare, meaning the "intended parents" of the child born by surrogacy aren't on the hook for the bill.
Estimates for the cost of an uneventful birth range from $3,000 to $6,000, not including any prenatal or postnatal care. With 45 births in B.C. to foreign parents, that means taxpayers were out $135,000 to $270,000 in healthcare costs for the birth alone.
If there are complications those costs skyrocket. Estimates say care for a premature baby could top $90,000.
All of that paid for by Canadian taxpayers for a baby that will be shuffled home to a foreign country as soon as all the paperwork is complete.
Those numbers I've given you are for B.C. alone. Other provinces either do not keep or will not release stats on the number of surrogate babies for foreign parents.
Whatever the number in other countries, expect this to grow in Canada.
As other countries crack down on foreign surrogate parents or don't allow the procedure for nonresidents, Canada has no such rules. We also offer complete healthcare coverage for the Canadian surrogate and citizenship for the child upon birth.
That means a Canadian passport for life and easier entry, maybe even sponsorship of the parents later in life.
Other countries also make you pay to use their facilities.
One American company offering surrogacy charges a low of $39,400 US in Mexico to a high of $64,900 US for the "Guaranteed Baby" program in Ukraine.
With prices like that, no wonder Canada is becoming a more attractive destination for this kind of birth tourism.
The group Real Women of Canada, which is outright opposed to surrogacy, says the federal government should at least be looking to close this loophole allowing couples from other countries to have their child's birth subsidized by Canadian taxpayers.
In a submission to Health Canada, which is looking at modernizing rules and regulations around surrogacy, the group calls for non-canadians to be barred from using Canada as a surrogacy destination, something many European countries already do.
Any discussion of such a ban would be a sticky one for the government, in fact any discussion of the issue is sticky.
Emotions will run high, claims of targeting specific groups will be made.
Here's an idea though, let's get better information on this.
It's understandable that foreign parents may want to give their child the privilege and advantages of a Canadian passport. That's why we have an immigration system.
But let's find out from each of the provinces how often this is happening.
Are Canadians paying for the hospital care for babies born to foreign parents?
Are we paying for expensive neonatal care or even IVF treatments so foreign couples can have a child?
Are we handing out citizenship to children that will not live here? And if so, how often is this happening?
This looks like the type of thing people didn't think of when the current regulations were devised.
More than a decade in, maybe it's time we had some honest conversations about what we want to allow, who is going to pay for it and who should actually get a Canadian passport.
Fash is here because of this...
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
I don't blame the people who game the system.
Neither do I. Want to end the game? Close the fucking loophole!
But this is Canaja. You gotta be kidding
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
As long as her parents entered legally & had proper visas thats not so bad.its just when women enter the country illegally & still get birther citizenship for their kids it isn't very good.
The gov should restrict which kinds of foreigners are granted citizenship.
Illegals and undocumented refugees should be disqualified
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
Excuse me??
Quote from: "Gaon"
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
Excuse me??
It is true. Her mom came here on a tourist visa or some other temporary visa to give birth to Fash. When they were strong enough to make the journey, they went back to Taiwan. With the baby girl's Canadian citizenship.
You Canadians have some strange quirks.
Quote from: "Herman"
Quote from: "Gaon"
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
Excuse me??
It is true. Her mom came here on a tourist visa or some other temporary visa to give birth to Fash. When they were strong enough to make the journey, they went back to Taiwan. With the baby girl's Canadian citizenship.
That is none of your business Herman.
Nor is it important.
Quote from: "Fashionista"
Actually, it is, Fash...
YOU were the one that has, on numerous occasions, stated this fact here... Publicly, on the open forum.
So, I question why it is all of a sudden "None of Herman's business"...
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
Quote from: "Fashionista"
Actually, it is, Fash...
YOU were the one that has, on numerous occasions, stated this fact here... Publicly, on the open forum.
So, I question why it is all of a sudden "None of Herman's business"...
I don't discuss the personal things that Herman has mentioned.
Quote from: "Fashionista"
Quote from: "Chuck Bronson"
Quote from: "Fashionista"
Actually, it is, Fash...
YOU were the one that has, on numerous occasions, stated this fact here... Publicly, on the open forum.
So, I question why it is all of a sudden "None of Herman's business"...
I don't discuss the personal things that Herman has mentioned.
I wouldn't care if you did.
By Brian Lilley of Sun NEws Media
TORONTO — When it comes to hot tourism spots in Canada, few would put suburbs like Richmond, British Columbia or Scarborough, Ontario up there with the CN Tower or the Rockies.
But to a certain kind of tourist, these suburbs, and specifically their hospitals, are all the rage.
A new paper from the Institute for Research on Public Policy shows birth tourism is growing in Canada's major cities.
Written by Andrew Griffith, the former director general of Immigration Canada, the paper reveals significantly more women than thought are coming to Canada to deliver their babies and leave with a Canadian passport for their child.
"The level of birth tourism nationally is at least five times greater than the 300 births captured by Statistics Canada in 2016," Griffith writes.
Instead of the Statistics Canada number, Griffith estimates that there were 3,628 babies born to foreign parents in 2017, and that doesn't include numbers from Quebec.
"The impact of this practice can no longer be described as insignificant given its effect on the integrity of citizenship and public perceptions that birth tourism is a fraudulent shortcut to obtaining citizenship," Griffith writes.
These figures don't include landed immigrants or refugees, this is simply people who are visiting Canada when they give birth.
While some would be people visiting on a work or student visa, Griffith says that even with a conservative estimate of 40% to 50% the number is too high.
His search for better data on birth tourism was sparked by reports earlier this year showing more than 20% of births at the Richmond Hospital just outside Vancouver were due to birth tourism.
Of 2,145 births at this hospital in 2017-18, 469 were non-resident births.
The second highest hospital tracked by Griffith for the paper is Scarborough and Rouge Hospital-birchmount site in Toronto's east end and St. Mary's Hospital in Montreal.
Both of those sites saw more than 9% of all births involve non-residents.
One thing all the hospitals on the list have in common is easy access to a major airport and direct flights in and out of Canada.
A petition sponsored by Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido, who represents the Richmond area, calls on the government to study the problem of birth tourism and take steps to end it.
So far the petition has garnered almost 11,000 signatures.
The previous Harper government considered taking action to stop birth tourism but with Statscan saying there were only a few hundred cases a year, the cost to enforce any new measures was deemed too high.
Now with higher and growing numbers, it is time to act.
The numbers tracked by Griffith show the number of births to nonresident mothers has just about tripled between 2010 and 2017.
None of this includes the numbers I revealed in this paper a week ago showing 44% of surrogacy births in British Columbia in 2016 and 2017 were for foreign based parents using a Canadian surrogate.
Each of those children, regardless of the status of the parents, gets full Canadian citizenship and all the benefits that entails. Even if the mother only flew into Canada and checked into the hospital for the express purpose of giving birth.
Isn't that making a mockery of our system?
Doesn't that debase Canadian citizenship?
There are lawyers, consultants and "global mobility solutions" experts offering services on having a baby in Canada in order to get a Canadian passport for the baby.
The Conservative Party passed a resolution at their convention this past summer to end the practice of birth tourism.
That move was instantly attacked by Trudeau's top aide Gerald Butts as, "a deeply wrong and disturbing idea."
You'll recall that Trudeau famously campaigned to give back Canadian citizenship to convicted terrorists who had dual citizenship and who had taken up arms against Canada.
His mantra was that a Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian.
It's a handy catch phrase and useful when the real purpose is to try and sound compassionate and scare immigrants.
The truth is that under Trudeau Canada has still stripped many people of citizenship. From former Nazis to people that lied on their applications to come here.
The simple fact of the matter is that Canadians get to decide who gets citizenship, and we do that all the time.
Changing the law to end birth tourism, a growing and disturbing trend, would hardly be controversial for most Canadians.
Let's hope someone in the political world has the courage to take up this issue.