Evan’s common-law wife, Jackie, applied for permanent residency in 2017 after Evan’s family sponsored her. All the required fees to process her application had been paid. Evan was concerned that Jackie’s Medical Service Plan (MSP) coverage should have begun shortly thereafter, but her coverage wasn’t approved for seven months. Jackie was pregnant at the time of the application and they had to pay nearly $3,500 for prenatal care.

Evan raised his concerns with the Ministry of Health and was told they would not backdate Jackie’s MSP coverage. Evan explained that at the time of the application, the ministry’s publicly available information did not specify that they were required to pay the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) in order to be deemed a resident in BC. As such, Evan and Jackie delayed paying the RPRF. As a result, the ministry began calculating the wait period from the time that the RPRF was paid, which delayed Jackie’s MSP coverage date.

Evan appealed the decision twice, and was denied. Feeling the ministry’s decision was unfair, Evan approached our office.

We reviewed the ministry’s publicly available information about the payment of fees for permanent resident applicants. We noted that the ministry had changed its messaging about the fees payable in order for a permanent resident applicant to be deemed a resident after Evan’s complaint was opened. When Evan made his complaint, the ministry’s website did not include any reference to the RPRF needing to be paid.

Upon our review, we felt it was unfair of the ministry to calculate Jackie’s MSP coverage from the time that the RPRF was paid because information about the RPRF payment was not publicly available at that time. The ministry recognized the need for clarity in this area and had modified its website to include specific reference to the RPRF payment requirement.

We asked the ministry to backdate Jackie’s MSP coverage and the ministry agreed. It also provided Evan with information about how to claim reimbursement for any insured medical and hospital expenses incurred. Satisfied that the ministry took the steps necessary to resolve the fairness concern identified, we ended our investigation.