Birth tourism at Canada's Vancouver is legal, gov't says

Birth tourism is becoming increasingly popular these days, especially in Canada's western coastal city of Vancouver, as more and more foreign nationals come to give birth to their babies here, according to local media reports on Friday.

As some worry about the legal status of such phenomenon, Canadian federal authorities have said clearly that foreign nationals coming to Vancouver to have babies aren' t breaking any laws if they can pay all the medical care fees.

According to Friday's Vancouver Sun report, Richmond, a suburb city of Vancouver, has witnessed the birth tourism rising from just 18 in 2010 to 339 in the past fiscal year.

Nancy Caron, spokeswoman for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), said foreign nationals must have a temporary resident visa (TRV) to enter Canada and must state the purpose of travelling to Canada.

Many believe that more and more foreign nationals, particularly Asians, favor birth tourism because the mothers can obtain Canadian citizenship, passports, birth certificates and other documents for their newborns.

The Citizenship Act guarantees Canadian citizenship for any baby born in Canada, thus alluring foreigners to give birth here if they wish to get Canadian citizenship for their newborns.

The real problems arise is when the mothers could not pay their medical bills. Birth tourists are charged fees set by the provincial government in consultation with health authorities. British Columbia government information shows that only half of non-resident bills related to births are paid.

According to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) officials, non-residents are asked to put a 7,500 CAD (5,685 U.S. dollars) deposit down for an uncomplicated birth and 13,000 CAD (9,854 U.S. dollars) for a C-section, roughly three times what the hospital gets from the Medical Services Plan for insured B.C. residents. Endit