Father Canadian-wife Spanish; Birth rights

[Canuck.abroad]

Hello,
I am a Canadian citizen from birth, and my wife is Spanish, with no Canadian residency/citizenship.

My question is;

Are we able to have our child in Canada, with no costs, as I am a Canadian citizen?

There is a few potential outlying complications. We currently live abroad, and I have declared (Since June 2018) I am no longer a resident of Canada. Will this also impact our ability to have a low cost child birth in Canada?

Thank you to any insight you may provide.

Kind regards,
Ian

 

[mashulia_26]

Hello,
I am a Canadian citizen from birth, and my wife is Spanish, with no Canadian residency/citizenship.

My question is;

Are we able to have our child in Canada, with no costs, as I am a Canadian citizen?

There is a few potential outlying complications. We currently live abroad, and I have declared (Since June 2018) I am no longer a resident of Canada. Will this also impact our ability to have a low cost child birth in Canada?

Thank you to any insight you may provide.

Kind regards,
Ian

Since your wife has NO status in canada she will have to pay full cost.

 

[smallcoffee]

You will have to pay around 15K
Since you're Canadian, the child will also be Canadian no matter where she gives birth

 

[YVR123]

You will have to pay around 15K
Since you're Canadian, the child will also be Canadian no matter where she gives birth

This is not 100% true. If OP is canadian via immigration or if he's born in Canada, yes, the child will be Canadian.
But if OP was born overseas from Canadian parent, then no, his citizenship will not pass on to his child.

Also the cost of 15K is with no complication. The number can go up really fast if there is any complication during child birth.

 

[canuck78]

If your wife is Spanish she can give birth in the EU for free.

 

[Buletruck]

Are we able to have our child in Canada, with no costs, as I am a Canadian citizen?

Citizenship doesn’t necessarily afford you access to healthcare at no cost. Healthcare is run provincially and they all have specific requirements in order to qualify. As you have declared yourself non-resident (no ties to Canada), you are expected to cover the cost of healthcare in Canada until you become a resident again (and meet the qualifying criteria). And since your wife is a foreign national, she isn’t eligible for healthcare (she’s having the baby, not you) unless she has some sort of extended residency status (in most cases).
So, no you probably won’t be able to give birth in Canada for free. It is unlikely you would be able to have a childbirth in Canada without incurring some, if not all of the costs at some point in time.

 

[DavidK_NZ]

Which Province are you from and is it your intention to immigrate to Canada? That will decide if you can get coverage.

I was surprised at how quickly I was able to access MSI in Nova Scotia. It was within two weeks of arriving in the country (May 2019) as a visitor with dual intent.

Nova Scotia grants MSI coverage while you are in the process of applying for inland PR. They required evidence (on top of identity and address) of paying PR fee (print out of email receipt) and evidence the application had been submitted (Canada Post receipt). My Canadian wife simply needed to provide proof of identity and address to confirm her residency.

Your wife may have a different experience entering the country, especially while pregnant, that would be at the discretion of the border officer on the day. You would need to be able to satisfy them that she was here with dual intent and that she was prepared and able to leave if not granted PR.

Hospital visits can be very expensive. 2 years ago when my son was 8 we had to take him to the children's hospital in Halifax. He did no end up seeing a doctor but they tried to bill us $400. He was a non-resident Canadian at the time.

 

[canuck78]

Which Province are you from and is it your intention to immigrate to Canada? That will decide if you can get coverage.

I was surprised at how quickly I was able to access MSI in Nova Scotia. It was within two weeks of arriving in the country (May 2019) as a visitor with dual intent.

Nova Scotia grants MSI coverage while you are in the process of applying for inland PR. They required evidence (on top of identity and address) of paying PR fee (print out of email receipt) and evidence the application had been submitted (Canada Post receipt). My Canadian wife simply needed to provide proof of identity and address to confirm her residency.

Your wife may have a different experience entering the country, especially while pregnant, that would be at the discretion of the border officer on the day. You would need to be able to satisfy them that she was here with dual intent and that she was prepared and able to leave if not granted PR.

Hospital visits can be very expensive. 2 years ago when my son was 8 we had to take him to the children's hospital in Halifax. He did no end up seeing a doctor but they tried to bill us $400. He was a non-resident Canadian at the time.

Admission, tests, seeing a nurse aren’t free so yes you should have paid something for the visit. You also must meet the residency requirements to receive healthcare in the province or you could be asked to pay back any healthcare that you have used. That usually means that you are committed to remain in that province for over 6 months. The rules are there to discourage people from landing in Canada, or a specific province, to use healthcare and then move out of Canada or to another province.