Query regarding medical coverage

[arsalanhasan]

Hi,

We received our passport request letter from CIC 1st week of January and we found out in 2nd week of January that my wife is expecting. It is currently her 8th odd week. In my immigration application form I had chosen Toronto, Ontario as the destination.

My query is:

1. I've heard that medical coverage in Ontario starts on the 1st day of third month of filing medical papers but in Alberta medical coverage starts immediately? Now I am confused if I should move to Calgary or Toronto since I want to avail medical coverage immediately since pregnancy has its own surprises and I don't intend on spending all of my savings in medical bills.

Can I land in Toronto, stay there for 10 days and file my medical card which will come at the provided address in 3 months. Then I leave for Calgary after 10 days and after landing apply for a medical card there too? This way I will have a medical card in Toronto and in Calgary. After baby's delivery I can decide if I would like to stay in Calgary or settle in Toronto.

If someone can please guide. Thank you.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Hi,

We received our passport request letter from CIC 1st week of January and we found out in 2nd week of January that my wife is expecting. It is currently her 8th odd week. In my immigration application form I had chosen Toronto, Ontario as the destination.

My query is:

1. I've heard that medical coverage in Ontario starts on the 1st day of third month of filing medical papers but in Alberta medical coverage starts immediately? Now I am confused if I should move to Calgary or Toronto since I want to avail medical coverage immediately since pregnancy has its own surprises and I don't intend on spending all of my savings in medical bills.

Can I land in Toronto, stay there for 10 days and file my medical card which will come at the provided address in 3 months. Then I leave for Calgary after 10 days and after landing apply for a medical card there too? This way I will have a medical card in Toronto and in Calgary. After baby's delivery I can decide if I would like to stay in Calgary or settle in Toronto.

If someone can please guide. Thank you.

1. You have a choice, you apply either in Ontario or Alberta, you can't apply for both. Note you have to reside in either province to get coverage.

 

[arsalanhasan]

Thank you PPM.

Can I have both medical cards i.e. one in Toronto & one in Calgary but avail medical coverage only in the province of residence?

For e.g. I visit Toronto initially for 10 days and file for a medical card which will come after 3 months. After 10 days I go to Calgary for residing and apply a medical card there which comes in a week's time. So i avail medical coverage in Calgary till 4-5 months till I plan to stay there. After 5 months I move back to Toronto and use the medical card which would have arrived upon my return to Toronto.

 

[scylla]

Thank you PPM.

Can I have both medical cards i.e. one in Toronto & one in Calgary but avail medical coverage only in the province of residence?

For e.g. I visit Toronto initially for 10 days and file for a medical card which will come after 3 months. After 10 days I go to Calgary for residing and apply a medical card there which comes in a week's time. So i avail medical coverage in Calgary till 4-5 months till I plan to stay there. After 5 months I move back to Toronto and use the medical card which would have arrived upon my return to Toronto.

No - you can't. If you try to do this Alberta will go after you for the costs of the health care you took advantage of while living in Calgary since you never actually had an intent to reside there. This has happened to a few people on this forum and the amount of money the province has gone after them for was several tens of thousands of dollars for childbirth. These people would have all been far better off paying for the costs of the childbirth themselves. But because they tried to cheat the system, they ended up having to pay a lot more.