P ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR PRECARIOUS MIGRANTS IN QUEBEC, ONTARIO AND NEW BRUNSWICK

Immigration status is a key criterion on the basis of which an individual will be deemed eligible for receipt of insured public health services. Immigration statuses assigned to individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents may be considered particularly "precarious" in that these individuals enjoy less certainty about their ability to remain in Canada and partake in the benefits of Canadian society. In this paper we investigate the relationship between being an individual with "precarious" immigration status and access to insured health services. The study was conducted using Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick as sites, looking at access to health services through federal and provincial health insurance schemes and workers' compensation systems through legislation and case law. The most vulnerable group identified with respect to both health and workers' compensation coverage were those without legal status in Canada. Given that they are not entitled to any provincial health insurance benefits, their status with respect to workers' compensation benefits is unclear, and legality issues prevent them from accessing services to which they may be entitled. Particularly with respect to provincial health insurance coverage, other gaps shown were for coverage of temporary migrants working on permits where no specific employer is named and of those in Canada awaiting sponsorship or other permanent residency application results. Immigration status has less bearing on access to workers' compensation benefits, but coverage of injured migrant workers without status was still found to be an issue. The legitimacy of the employment contract has some bearing on coverage of injuries, particularly in Quebec, and thus the lack of immigration status may, and has sometimes been used to, call the employment relationship into question. Given the broad range of individuals who are precarious migrants and the gaps identified in coverage, both between statuses and between provinces, governments need to address these iniquities if access to health care for all people living in Canada is to be ensured.