Are Indians driving birth tourism in Canada? Here's the truth

In a video that has now gone viral, a Canadian claimed that pregnant Indian women were flooding Canadian birth clinics and hospitals. This X user, who went by the name Chad Eros, also said the Indian women fly to Canada especially to give birth there for Canadian citizenship for the baby and the parents. He also discussed his sister's experience at a clinic. The phenomenon, known as birth tourism, has been a hot-button issue for the last 5–6 years, even echoing in Canada's Parliament. But are Indians really driving birth tourism in Canada?

"Pregnant Indian Women Flying To Canada For Free Births and Canadian Citizen Babies at Tax Payer Expense. Tonight my niece had a baby, making my sister a grandparent before me. Congrats! The nurse told my niece that the maternity ward is full of Indian women flying to Canada to have their babies, to get a child with Canadian citizenship," said X user Chad Eros.

"When their Indian baby grows up they’ll come to Canada as a Canadian citizen, sponsor their parents and siblings, and bring the whole family over. And I’m willing to bet it’s all free of charge at the Canadian taxpayer’s expense," he added.

But later, in a different post, Chad clarified how Indians were not the only ones coming to Canada for birth tourism.

But do Indians even make a big section of immigrants who fly to Canada for birth tourism?

FROM DREAM DESTINATION TO DREAM DESTINATION FOR BIRTH?

This video comes as Canada follows jus soli. The principle of right of the soil, which means citizenship by birthright.

But many Canadians think "birth tourism" strains the healthcare system for them.

It is a phenomenon where women from different countries fly to Canada to give birth and then return to their homeland with their babies.

Many Canadians believe it's a cheque that the foreigners would be encashing later.

Many hospitals in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia have seen this phenomenon. It is an expensive affair, costing around $30,000.

This is arranged by birth hotels in Canada, reports The Fifth Estate. They also take care of any issues these women might face at the borders.

But many people do it for a secure future and Canadian citizenship.

“It’s an investment in my child’s education,” Melody Bai, a 28-year-old flight attendant from China told the New York Times. “We chose Canada because of its better natural and social environment.”

While birth tourism is prevalent, here we see if there is any data on Indians going to Canada.

PRE-PANDEMIC BIRTH TOURISTS WERE FROM CHINA

A report by Policy Options showed how overall visitor visas for Chinese nationals used to be the highest till the pandemic.

An NYT report also shows how Richmond, a city outside Vancouver, had 200,000 Chinese residents in the pre-pandemic era. Non-resident mothers were a fifth of the births at Richmond hospital, the pre-pandemic epicentre of birth tourism.

An objection to this tourism was also raised by a Liberal member of Parliament in Richmond, who called it unethical.

This disillusionment is shared by many Canadians, shows a report by the Fifth Estate.

But in the pre-pandemic report, the primary beneficiaries of birth tourism in Canada were Chinese nationals. Several birth hotels and their websites even encourage it.

This was also seen when a journalist phoned these hotels. She was told her child would be able to get a better education, and she would be able to get citizenship in Canada.

But the Chinese trend has come to a halt.

POST-PANDEMIC NIGERIAN BIRTH TOURISTS

But the entry of Nigerians for birth tourism continued.

In 2019-20, a study showed a quarter of non-residential women who gave birth in Calgary were Nigerians.

This was also confirmed by data from Biomedical Health Services, Canada. Around 24.5% of the birth tourists were from Nigeria, the report discussed.

Their primary reason for coming to Canada was newborn Canadian citizenship. The report also discussed that the second and third-largest groups were the Middle East and China.

The report also showed birth tourism, which had dipped during the Covid years, was returning to pre-pandemic levels. An increase of 53% was seen in 2022 of foreigners giving birth in Canada.

The number of such new mothers rose in 2023 too. Canada saw a total of 3,575 non-residential births, reported Richmond News.

But here is the answer to whether Indians make the largest birth-tourists or even a larger number.

British Columbia saw a decline in non-resident births after the pandemic. This is due to travel restrictions in China, and the largest immigrant population here. Earlier, Chinese nationals used to be 24% of the people in hotels, but now it has declined.

“In Richmond, where, as you see, the number of visas issued to Chinese nationals decreased, the number of birth tourists in Richmond decreased. So it’s no longer the epicentre; now it’s one of the Toronto hospitals," Andrew Griffith, former Director General for Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

DO INDIANS MAKE BIRTH TOURISTS IN LARGE NUMBERS?

Indians are not increasing the number of birth tourists in Canada. If they did, as the second-largest group in British Columbia, the province would not have seen a decline.

No other data or anecdotal reports see Indian birth-tourists as an issue in Canada.

The issue is with the Justin Trudeau government, which has promised a decrease in birth tourism.

"Given the current and planned increases in immigration, it is highly unlikely that the government will act as the numbers are a rounding error compared to overall immigration of 500,000 by 2025," said Griffith.

But the support for strict measures to control birth tourism is high.

A poll showed 64% of people in Richmond voted in favour of it and 60% even asked for a change in Citizenship law in Canada.

"I think we need to address it. We need to decide how we're going to approach this,"Dr. Colin Birch, a Calgary obstetrician gynaecologist told CBC.

What the nurse mentioned by Chad Eros might have seen are Canadian women of Indian origin, and not Indians flying to Canada for childbirth.

While Indians might not make a large number of birth tourists, Canada still has a birth tourism problem, which is causing resentment amongst Canadians.