Hey All,
This is a reminder for everyone who is making their way with visas to Canada that you need to ensure you have proper medical insurance for the province you are going to!! This is part of what will be evaluated when you arrive in Canada (as part of your ability to support yourself), plus medical coverage is NOT free to visitors and students until you are enrolled in the province health plan. Each province is different. I am most familiar with BC, so I will use that as an example.
Medical coverage is available to PR, citizens, work visas, and study visas AFTER A 3 MONTH WAIT. You are eligible to apply for BC medical coverage as soon as you arrive, but you MUST HAVE YOUR OWN COVERAGE during this wait period. This is NOT covered by the schools. Schools will provide what is called "extended health benefits", and this covers dentist, prescription drugs, eye exams. This does not cover emergency room visits, visits to a doctor, if you get into an accident and need emergency surgery.
Medical coverage is also NOT free. If you are not covered under the BC health plan (and every other plan in the country), you will be billed for health care. In BC the cost of an emergency room visit is $800, no matter what the problem. The cost of inpatient stay is $1500 per night, and the cost of ICU stay is $12,000 a day. Most schools will provide recommendations for companies that provide travel medical insurance at a discount to their schools, but regardless, you must ensure you purchase medical coverage, otherwise you risk becoming ill or having an unplanned emergency and being stuck with a giant bill on top of that. It is generally recommended to have AT LEAST 1 million available coverage, but 5 million is much safer.
Again, I'm not as familiar with the rest of Canada, but it is very important that you have travel coverage for the day you land in Canada onwards, and you have either applied for the provincial health plan, or purchased private insurance if you aren't eligible for the provincial plan.
This is a reminder for everyone who is making their way with visas to Canada that you need to ensure you have proper medical insurance for the province you are going to!! This is part of what will be evaluated when you arrive in Canada (as part of your ability to support yourself), plus medical coverage is NOT free to visitors and students until you are enrolled in the province health plan. Each province is different. I am most familiar with BC, so I will use that as an example.
Medical coverage is available to PR, citizens, work visas, and study visas AFTER A 3 MONTH WAIT. You are eligible to apply for BC medical coverage as soon as you arrive, but you MUST HAVE YOUR OWN COVERAGE during this wait period. This is NOT covered by the schools. Schools will provide what is called "extended health benefits", and this covers dentist, prescription drugs, eye exams. This does not cover emergency room visits, visits to a doctor, if you get into an accident and need emergency surgery.
Medical coverage is also NOT free. If you are not covered under the BC health plan (and every other plan in the country), you will be billed for health care. In BC the cost of an emergency room visit is $800, no matter what the problem. The cost of inpatient stay is $1500 per night, and the cost of ICU stay is $12,000 a day. Most schools will provide recommendations for companies that provide travel medical insurance at a discount to their schools, but regardless, you must ensure you purchase medical coverage, otherwise you risk becoming ill or having an unplanned emergency and being stuck with a giant bill on top of that. It is generally recommended to have AT LEAST 1 million available coverage, but 5 million is much safer.
Again, I'm not as familiar with the rest of Canada, but it is very important that you have travel coverage for the day you land in Canada onwards, and you have either applied for the provincial health plan, or purchased private insurance if you aren't eligible for the provincial plan.
