DAN PUCHER

WHO NEEDS VISITORS TO ONTARIO HEALTH INSURANCE?

Visitors, tourists and transients are not eligible for OHIP coverage (Ontario Health Insurance Plan).

In order to be eligible for coverage you must meet one of the citizen or immigration categories set out below and also make your permanent and principal home in Ontario.

You are included under one of the following categories:

- you are a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or landed immigrant, convention refugee, or are registered as an Indian under the Indian Act

- you have submitted an Application for Permanent Residence or an Application for Landing and have been confirmed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada as having satisfied the medical requirements for landing

- you are a foreign worker who holds a valid work permit or employment authorization which names a Canadian employer situated in Ontario and your prospective occupation, and is valid for at least six months

- you are a foreign clergy member who will be providing services to a religious congregation in Ontario for at least six months

- you hold a Temporary Resident Permit or Minister’s Permit with case type 80 (for adoption only), 86, 87, 88 or 89

- you are the spouse, same sex partner, or dependent child (under 19 years of age) of a foreign clergy member or eligible foreign worker who is to be employed in Ontario for a period of at least three consecutive years

- you hold a work permit or employment authorization under the Live-In Caregivers in Canada Program or the Foreign Domestic Movement

- you have been issued a work permit or employment authorization under the Caribbean Commonwealth and Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program administered by the federal department of Citizenship and Immigration

- and you make your permanent and principal home in Ontario

- and you are in Ontario for at least 153 days of the first 183 days immediately following the date you establish residency in Ontario (you cannot be absent for more than 30 days during the first 6 months of residency)

- and you are in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period

There may be a three-month waiting period for OHIP coverage.

If you are a newcomer to Ontario or are a former resident returning to Ontario to live after being out of the country for more than seven months, the waiting period begins on the date you establish residence in Ontario. You must be in Ontario for 153 days of the first 183 days immediately following the date residency is established.

Visitors to Canada emergency medical insurance will provide coverage for sickness and injury while you await OHIP coverage or if you are simply a visitor. Coverage can be purchased from insurance brokers representing private insurance companies. A policy can be issued within 10 minutes. Premiums start at a few dollars per day and are worth it when you consider hospital costs in Ontario can run up to $3,000.00 daily.