“Giving birth in Canada opens up great prospects for your baby,” says the Canada Mama consultancy website. It’s one of many platforms helping expectant mothers travel to Canada to give birth so their babies will become Canadian citizens.
Such platforms outline all the reasons Canada is the preferred destination: Birth tourism is permitted by law, medical expenses are relatively cheap, and Canadian citizenship comes with many social benefits.
While birth tourism has faced occasional scrutiny in Canada over the years, it continues to thrive—often at the expense of taxpayers, and to the detriment of mothers, babies, and an over-burdened health-care system, says Dr. Simrit Brar, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary….