OTTAWA -- A veteran is taking the Canadian Armed Forces to court, challenging the constitutionality of exclusionary military polices that still prohibit applicants who are living with HIV, despite recruitment challenges and advancements in treatment. J.B., whose full name is protected in the filing, served as an active-duty member in the regular force for 13 years, between 2007 and 2020. He was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 by a military medical officer, meaning from that point on his status was known to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The Forces allowed him to continue serving – while taking antiretroviral medication – including working the office of the Chief of Defence Staff, and taking a nine-month high-risk deployment to Mali, an active combat zone in 2019. After a voluntary release, J.B. tried to rejoin as a reservist in 2024. “I wanted to reclaim my military identity … I missed my military community,” he said in his affidavit, which notes his family’s extensive military service dating back to the Second World War, and his lifelong connection to the CAF. “It felt particularly meaningful to re-enrol as an out gay man who is living with HIV, as people with this profile have not always been welcome in the CAF,” he said. But J.B. was rejected. An October 2024 letter from the recruiting medical office presented in the court documents explicitly cited his HIV status as the reason he did not meet the Forces’ enrolment medical standards. “I was deeply hurt by the CAF’s decision to reject my application due solely to my HIV status, particularly when I was fully capable of serving my country with my diagnosis for over 8 years,” J.B. said in a statement issued by his legal team confirming the court challenge. As he is seeking a court-imposed publication ban on his full name, due to concerns about the nature of the case, CTV News has agreed to protect J.B.’s identity. His challenge, filed alongside the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) by lawyers Melanie Anderson and Gregory Ko, argues that these policies are discriminatory, a violation of the Charter’s equality protection, and are premised on “outdated stereotypes about people living with HIV.” J.B. – who has had an undetectable viral load for 13 years, meaning he cannot transmit the virus to others – is also seeking $200,000 in damages “as an appropriate and just remedy for the infringement of his Charter rights.” CAF changed other health restrictions recently The case takes direct aim at barriers to entry that J.B.’s lawyers argue have no rational basis in the current context and are at odds with approaches other militaries – including the British Armed Forces – have recently taken. Specifically, the filing points to an explicit policy that disqualifies potential pilots from being selected for aircrew training in the Royal Canadian Air Force, under AMA Directive 100-01. It lists potential causes for medial disqualification and among them cites HIV, while offering the caveat that “in trained aircrew HIV infection is considered on a case-by-case basis.” The broader Common Enrolment Medical Standards (CEMS) that were cited by the military in J.B.’s case are also mentioned in the filing, arguing the CAF “interprets and applies” them in a manner that is discriminatory to those seeking entry to the regular force, primary reserve, and other branches. After struggling to meet its own recruitment targets, in recent years the CAF has taken steps to expand the applicant pool to attract and train more troops, including in early 2025 when it stopped disqualifying applicants with certain medical conditions by default. This policy change allowed prospective recruits with anxiety, allergies, asthma or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to be deemed fit to serve on a case-by-case basis. At the time, CAF Surgeon General Maj.-Gen. Scott Malcolm told reporters: “Any and all conditions are on the table for consideration for enrolment.” Though, that offer of individualized assessment has not been extended to applicants with HIV, despite internal documentation indicating servicemembers with the virus are able to meet operational standards and perform their duties effectively, which this constitutional challenge argues J.B. demonstrated for close to a decade. The legal team behind this case has recently served the CAF with its more than 400-page application record, which includes a notice of application, as well as affidavits from HALCO executive director Ryan Peck, and J.B. detailing his experience and the impact on him. CTV News has requested comment from the Department of National Defence, as well as Defence Minister David McGuinty. This story will be updated once responses are received.
