The Department of Citizenship and Immigration has granted Juana Tejada permanent residency so she can remain in the country and receive treatment for her illness.

At a news conference in downtown Toronto on Friday morning, Tejada thanked the immigration minister and said she was relieved by the decision.

"Yes of course I am very happy and I really feel great because at last the thing that I'm fighting for is answered," said Tejada.

Tejada, who works in Toronto, came to Canada in 2003 under the live-in caregiver program after passing a medical exam in the Philippines. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in early 2007.

Initially, the immigration department refused to grant her the right to stay in the country, saying she would be a burden on the health-care system.

But the department reversed its decision after Tejada appealed on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

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