BACKGROUND:
Humanitarian migrant children constitute a significant proportion of the global refugee population and experience unique vulnerabilities that impact their health and well-being. Oral health, an integral component of overall health, is often overlooked in refugee health policies, including Canada’s Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which restricts dental coverage to emergency care. This neglect perpetuates oral health disparities and undermines children’s rights as articulated in international frameworks such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). This study critically examined how global, national (Canadian) and provincial (Quebec) policies construct humanitarian migrant children and address their oral health needs.

METHODS:
Guided by Childhood Ethics and employing Critical Discourse Analysis informed by Bacchi’s “What’s the Problem Represented to be?” (WPR) approach, this qualitative study analyzed international, national, and provincial policy documents and conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 stakeholders, including policymakers, health professionals, and refugee support workers.

RESULTS:
Findings show that in Canada and in Quebec, policies frame oral health for humanitarian migrant children through a humanitarian lens emphasizing emergency care, rather than as a fundamental right. IFHP’s adult-centric design and emergency-only dental coverage render children’s unique needs invisible, reinforcing structural inequities. Stakeholders highlighted gaps between international obligations and domestic implementation, variability in provincial programs, and the absence of child-specific provisions. Discourses of vulnerability and invisibility dominate policy texts, while children’s rights-based approaches remain aspirational.

CONCLUSIONS:
Canada’s refugee health policies fail to uphold the humanitarian migrant children’s rights to the “highest attainable standard of health” under CRC Article 24. A shift toward a rights-based framework is essential, embedding oral health in refugee health policies, expanding IFHP coverage beyond emergencies, and harmonizing federal and provincial programs. These changes would promote equity, fulfill international obligations, and improve oral health outcomes for humanitarian migrant children, one of Canada’s most vulnerabilized populations.