Parents Aren: Canada and Babies

parents aren: The Richmond Hospital in British Columbia had the highest volume of babies born to non-resident mothers, according to Toronto Star. Of the top 10 hospitals where such births were recorded, six are in the GTA. DREAMSTIME Statistics Canada has, since 2013, counted 1,561 babies about 312 annually born here to mothers, whose place of residence was listed outside Canada, based on figures from provincial birth registries. Birth tourism in Canada, where women late in pregnancy fly in to deliver their babies here, is controversial because the newborns are automatically Canadian citizens and enjoy full citizenship rights such as free education and lower university fees, even though their foreign parents aren't taxpayers. However, a new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy published Thursday in Policy Options magazine suggests the number of anchor babies born here every year is likely in the 1,500 to 2,000 range. Article Continued Below The data shows the number of births to non-resident mothers including all provinces but Quebec, which refused to release the data skyrocketed to 3,628 last year from just 1,354 in 2010, said the report by the Montreal-based think tank. The study mined the Canadian Institute for Health Information discharge database, and according to researcher Andrew Griffith, the figures based on hospital financial data that codes services provided to non-residents under other country resident self-pay give a clearer picture of the extent of the problem. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.