Crohn's Disease and The Canadian Army

[Martin Saba]

I want to join the Canadian Armed Forces after high school but I have crohns disease. My crohns disease is as mild as it can get. I only eat 2 pills of pentasa a day in the morning but recently I've been eating only one because it's just to expensive. I can even go a long time without even eating the medicine. It doesn't get in the way of anything I do and it never bothers me. I have check ups like every 6 months but I've missed them because I've been so busy and they don't reschedule it so the next appointment isn't for another 6 months, so I haven't gone to a check up for about a year and a half and I'm perfectly fine. Can I still join the Canadian Army as an Infantry Soldier?

 

[Humor]

I've been recently looking into the same thing via the British Army as I'm interested in going into the mechanical engineering route if my pursuit of professional sport fails. (Currently studying A Level Physics, Maths and Business) - Every recruiter I've spoken to has said that they cannot allow any exceptions regarding the disease, although it may be more lenient/different in Canada. If you didn't mention it during the recruitment process, you could potentially get discharged/other complications. I feel your pain mate haha.

 

[Lisa]

http://www.forces.ca/en/page/applynow-100#medical

Found on the Canadian Forces web site....

 

[leloupaccroupi]

They won't discharge you if you develop it during your service, however because you have it prior to application and recruitment, they probably won't accept you. It's not a matter of symptoms, it's that they can't guarantee that they can get your medication to you adequately whilst you're deployed. That's what they told me when I tried to join. However, if it's something you truly want to do, I wouldn't hesitate to apply and least try to enlist. What's the worst they can do? Say no?

Best of luck amigo.