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Negotiating precarity: Recent immigrants’ perceptions of waiting for public healthcare in Ontario, Canada

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  • Niraula, Ashika
  • Ratti, Nicole
  • Colley, Michele
  • Rosenberg, Mark
  • Ghassemi, Effat
  • Wilson, Kathi

Abstract

Canada is widely known for its universal publicly funded health care system. While its health care system is an important part of Canadian identity, recent immigrants living in some provinces and territories are not covered by the publicly funded healthcare system until they have met a minimum residency requirement. This article seeks to understand the multiple manifestations of financial and emotional precarity that recent immigrants face as they navigate a lack of access to health care during their first three months of arrival in Ontario. This paper draws on qualitative semi-structured interview data from 46 recent immigrants who came from 12 different countries and had been living in Ontario, Canada. We found that the wait period to obtain health care often added to the prohibitive costs associated with immigration and settlement. During the wait period, recent immigrants faced financial burdens and their inability to access publicly funded hospitals and medical services when needed which resulted in feelings of vulnerability, anxiety, and emotional hardship. Given the financial and emotional precarities faced by recent immigrants during the wait period, we argue that the Canadian ‘universal’ healthcare system excludes and creates barriers to timely and equitable access to healthcare services for recent immigrants. We recommend to permanently eliminate the wait period policy to ensure the health and wellbeing of recent immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Niraula, Ashika & Ratti, Nicole & Colley, Michele & Rosenberg, Mark & Ghassemi, Effat & Wilson, Kathi, 2023. "Negotiating precarity: Recent immigrants’ perceptions of waiting for public healthcare in Ontario, Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:133:y:2023:i:c:s0168851023001288
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104843
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carlo Devillanova & Tommaso Frattini, 2016. "Inequities in immigrants’ access to health care services: disentangling potential barriers," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(7), pages 1191-1208, October.
    2. Solina Richter & Helen Vallianatos & Jacqueline Green & Chioma Obuekwe, 2020. "Intersection of Migration and Access to Health Care: Experiences and Perceptions of Female Economic Migrants in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-11, May.
    3. Marcela Oyarte & Baltica Cabieses & Isabel Rada & Alice Blukacz & Manuel Espinoza & Edward Mezones-Holguin, 2022. "Unequal Access and Use of Health Care Services among Settled Immigrants, Recent Immigrants, and Locals: A Comparative Analysis of a Nationally Representative Survey in Chile," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Alejandro Gil-Salmerón & Konstantinos Katsas & Elena Riza & Pania Karnaki & Athena Linos, 2021. "Access to Healthcare for Migrant Patients in Europe: Healthcare Discrimination and Translation Services," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-14, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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