What counts as 'excessive demand' on health or social services for medical inadmissibility?

"Excessive demand" is a specific legal test, not just a general sense that someone has a costly medical condition. A designated medical officer assesses whether an applicant's health condition is likely to require health or social services whose cost would go beyond a set per-person threshold that IRCC uses for this purpose, or whose demand would add meaningfully to already strained waitlists for services in Canada, such as certain specialized care or long-term placements.

Two separate ideas sit inside the test: the anticipated dollar cost of future services, and the effect on existing wait times for scarce public services, even where the specific cost might not be unusually high. Either one, on its own, can support a finding. The assessment looks forward, estimating likely future use based on the diagnosis and prognosis, not just current treatment.

This is different from simply having a serious or chronic illness — many conditions, even significant ones, don't trigger excessive demand if the anticipated services and their cost don't cross the relevant threshold or add meaningfully to a strained system. Because the assessment is technical and evidence-driven, anyone facing a potential excessive demand finding should get the underlying medical evidence and prognosis reviewed carefully before responding.