Rupert contacted our office concerned with a decision made by Health Insurance BC that impacted his family’s health care coverage. His family had filed for permanent residence and new work and study permits, but due to the pandemic, the application process with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) was considerably delayed and the family’s status became “maintained”.

Individuals living in BC must have legal immigration status in Canada to be eligible for MSP coverage. As such, people who are on temporary work or study permits must apply to IRCC before their permit expires to maintain their legal status in Canada and be able to work and study. Before the pandemic, people who were on a “maintained” status pending renewal of their permits with IRCC were not eligible for MSP coverage. They only qualified retroactively, once their temporary status was renewed.

To respond to the IRCC processing delays due to the pandemic, the Ministry of Health adopted a temporary COVID-19 policy for individuals with “maintained” status in BC. At first, Rupert’s family received temporary MSP coverage. Several months later, the policy’s eligibility criteria were updated and as a result, Rupert’s family lost their coverage.

We contacted Health Insurance BC because it was unclear why Rupert and his family no longer had coverage, given there had been no change in their situation and the extraordinary IRCC processing delays continued. After highlighting how Rupert’s family, and others in similar situations were disadvantaged, the Ministry of Health agreed to approve Rupert’s family’s temporary MSP coverage, and to further extend it. It also updated its policy so that all eligible individuals residing in BC with “maintained” status may be eligible for an initial six months of coverage while waiting for work or study permits, including those affected by IRCC processing delays.