Research Library

Open access: No

Location: Alberta broadly (not otherwise specified)

Community organizations: n/a

Future research / gaps identified:

1) Evaluate and modify labour and economic policies in Alberta that affect undocumented migrants, such that these health disparities are decreased.

2) Assess different models of healthcare access for undocumented workers that are being used across Canada and Europe.

Key recommendations:

1) Eliminate waiting periods for provincial insurance coverage and provide universal healthcare coverage for all residents of Canada regardless of status.

2) Expand barrier-free access to health care services including access to vaccination, COVID-19 treatment, and proof of vaccinations

3) Support community-based migrant-responsive healthcare

4) Grant temporary foreign workers permanent residency status upon arrival.

Key populations: Undocumented migrants in Alberta

Key findings:

83 articles were included in the scoping review, where 5 main categories of consideration emerged:

1) Precarity in employment, status, and life in general strongly affects the health and social outcomes of undocumented migrants.

2) TFWs often worked in essential jobs during the pandemic, and contributed to: a) supplying needed human resources for various sectors, b) providing essential services, c) enhancing the Canadian economy, d) increasing discourse on migration, citizenship and development.

3) Undocumented migrants in Alberta have some of the poorest health outcomes in the province.

4) COVID-19 exposed and exacerbated the health disparities that undocumented workers in Alberta face.

5) Across Canada and in multiple European countries, different systems of healthcare access/exclusion for undocumented migrant workers are currently in place.

Integration timeline: Not defined