Medical

This forum deals with all aspects of immigration to Canada, landed immigrant status, work permits, etc.

Moderator: Ron Liberman

Post Reply
bigcityblue
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:41 pm

Medical

Post by bigcityblue »

Hi There,

I am a canadian citizen living in the US. I am thinking of returning to Canada and I heard that i will not be eligible for Canadian Medical for 90 days. If this is true, does anybody know how much it costs to buy private medical insurance to cover me in the meantime?

Thanks,
nelsona
Posts: 18314
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 2:33 pm
Location: Nowhere, man

Post by nelsona »

Legally, you are entitled to Provincial coverage the day you return to live in Canada. This is guaranteed in the Canada Health Act, and most provinces oblige. That applies to you and your son, not to your US wife.

Adminstratively, some provinces (ON and NB) refuse to obey the law, and force returning Cdns to wait 90 days. The other provinces do not.

Note that this is not the same as the 90 day period when moving from one Prov to another: while you do have to wait upto 90 days for covergaein your new province, the old one MUST cover you until the new coverage kicks in.

All but ON, NB, and perhaps BC, have specific language in their regs admitting returning Cdns immediately to the rolls.

I would not suggest you get into a prolonged legal battle if you plans are to move to Ontario (I'm at a loss why anyone would move to NB, but that is another story :? ). But if you had some condition that prevented you getting private coverage, your option would be a legal fight, or to keep your US coverage (thru COBRA) active until you Provincial or Employment coverage kicked in.
nelsona non grata. Non pro. Please Search previous posts, no situation is unique as you might think. Happy Browsing :D
Post Reply