Some Canadian and other LGBTQ+ philosophers have circulated posts on various platforms about a document issued by Haven, a group at University of Toronto-Scarborough that works on immigration policy and border issues. The document, entitled “A Guide for LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers Crossing the Canada-U.S. Border,” is intended to provide guidance to American “LGBTQI+ individuals who are exploring the possibility of entering Canada from the U.S.”.

I want to caution any disabled queer who reads it: the LGBTQ+ community in Canada (and elsewhere) has a long history of exclusion with respect to disabled LGBTQ+ people and a long-established refusal to understand its own ableism, including its ableist analyses, theory, practices, events, etc.

Furthermore, the academic study of immigration in Canada largely ignores the ableist requirements, implications, and consequences of policies and practices of Canadian immigration law and refugee status for disabled people. I suggest that this Haven guide displays some of these exclusionary practices; that is, if you are a disabled LGBTQI+ American who wishes to seek asylum in or otherwise immigrate to Canada, the Haven document will not provide you with some of the vital analysis and information that you need to consider.

In short, as in many areas of Canadian social policy, disabled people are both implicitly and explicitly discriminated against in Canadian immigration and refugee policy. The Haven guide, though valuable and timely, uncritically reproduces some of these ableist practices and discriminatory assumptions. For example, no mention is made of the Canadian immigration and refugee policies and requirements that restrict and disqualify immigration and refugee applications of disabled people.

To get a better idea of how disabled LGBTQ+ people are treated differently than nondisabled people with respect to immigration and refugee status, you can consider this article by Amiel Joseph for Briarpatch. Here is an excerpt of the article:

To immigrate to Canada, one must be considered a skilled worker, be sponsored or nominated (by family or a province or territory, respectively), be a caregiver for a Canadian citizen, have started a business in Canada, qualify for special programs like the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program or the Agri-Food Pilot program, or qualify as a refugee. An immigration medical examination (IME) is also required. Disabled people are restricted by law from immigrating to Canada if their condition is deemed as one that “might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services in Canada.” “Excessive demand” is defined in terms of cost and burden. Specifically, if a newcomer or potential newcomer might cost more than $24,057 per year in health and or social services, the Canadian government can deem them inadmissible. In addition to cost, ”excessive demand” also includes “a demand on health services or social services that would add to existing waiting lists and would increase the rate of mortality and morbidity in Canada as a result of an inability to provide timely services to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.” Canadian immigration legislation also uses the language of “danger” to public health and safety as a consideration for medical inadmissibility. 

When migrants are detained in Canada, they’re often incarcerated in immigration detention centres – and here, too, disabled migrants face appalling treatment. In 2021, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch issued a report showing that Canadian immigration detention discriminated against detainees with mental health issues. The report found that immigrants with mental health issues are more likely to be imprisoned, are often barred from making their own decisions about legal matters, are more likely to have restrictive release conditions, and in Ontario they’re often put in solitary confinement for 15 days or more (which authorities call receiving “specialized care”). “Put simply, authorities often view psychosocial disabilities as a risk factor; instead of receiving vital support, immigration detainees with psychosocial disabilities receive disproportionately coercive treatment,” the report notes. 

I encourage disabled LGBTQ+ philosophers who wish to explore asylum and immigration in Canada to consult the specialists at ARCH Disability Law Centre in Toronto.