# Health Care in Canada



## NLH (Jun 15, 2010)

Hi everyone,

I am moving to Canada next year on the working holiday program and was wondering if anyone could provide me with some information on what health care I will have access to? I will have travel insurance and am aware that this will cover me should I have an accident but what about if I get sick or require a prescription? 

From what my Canadian friends have told me the health care system in Canada is a lot different (and better) but I'm wondering what I will have access to.

Thanks for your help!

Nadine


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

NLH said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I am moving to Canada next year on the working holiday program and was wondering if anyone could provide me with some information on what health care I will have access to? I will have travel insurance and am aware that this will cover me should I have an accident but what about if I get sick or require a prescription?
> 
> ...


If you're coming under the BUNAC programme you will require to carry private insurance for your time here. You will not be covered under the Canadian (Provincial) health systems. Any health care you require must be paid by you (insurance).


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## NLH (Jun 15, 2010)

Auld Yin said:


> If you're coming under the BUNAC programme you will require to carry private insurance for your time here. You will not be covered under the Canadian (Provincial) health systems. Any health care you require must be paid by you (insurance).


Thank you, this is what I thought. I'm coming on the WHP from Australia but I'm sure the system will be much the same.


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## Jared (Jun 15, 2010)

Hey Nadine,

You can get the local version of Medicare once you get a permanent job. You'll have to wait about 3 months after you apply for it to come through, but any cost you incur between when you apply and when it comes through you can be claimed back after you get your card. 

This is what we did and would do again, although depending on your situation you may be better off just sticking with travel insurance as that can be cheaper provided you don't mind being stuck with the upfront costs. We're on MSP in BC and it covers more than Medicare, which is pretty good. 

I'd say if you were planning moving about a bit once you got here (ski fields then life on the prairies say) then travel insurance would be the better way to go. If your staying in the one spot for a couple of years then health care would be (is) my pick. 

If this is the case, what other Aussies usually do is invest in travel insurance to cover themselves for the first four months or so of the WHP, then by then they should have made the transition over to local health insurance.

Good choice coming over here though, it's a lot of fun 

J


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## oddball (Aug 1, 2007)

Jared said:


> Hey Nadine,
> 
> You can get the local version of Medicare once you get a permanent job. You'll have to wait about 3 months after you apply for it to come through, but any cost you incur between when you apply and when it comes through you can be claimed back after you get your card.
> 
> ...


 In Ontario you can apply for a sin card once you are established , also a permanent resident card , once you have your sin card you can apply for OHIP medical coverage which covers health conditions but not dental which can be expensive , so get your teeth fixed before you emmigrate .
Ohip also covers you for international travel but there are some restrictions and requirements , look it up on the Ontario web site .


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## NLH (Jun 15, 2010)

Jared this is so helpful, thank you! I will be based out of Toronto but will be doing quite a bit of traveling around in the first few months as I have friends all over so I will definitely look into this.

Do you mind me asking where in Australia you are from? And how long you've been in Canada?


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## NLH (Jun 15, 2010)

oddball said:


> In Ontario you can apply for a sin card once you are established , also a permanent resident card , once you have your sin card you can apply for OHIP medical coverage which covers health conditions but not dental which can be expensive , so get your teeth fixed before you emmigrate .
> Ohip also covers you for international travel but there are some restrictions and requirements , look it up on the Ontario web site .


Thank you so much, this is very helpful as I will be living in Toronto for the majority of the time.


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## sivakumar (Jun 8, 2010)

NLH said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I am moving to Canada next year on the working holiday program and was wondering if anyone could provide me with some information on what health care I will have access to? I will have travel insurance and am aware that this will cover me should I have an accident but what about if I get sick or require a prescription?
> 
> ...



hi i am siva there is any welfare for disabled persons in canada for educational 
guys, give me a reply ASAP.

Thanks 
Siva.M


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## sslkumar (Jul 12, 2010)

if u are coming as a permanent resident then you will get the default govt coverage. No charge for normal visits to the hospital. You will only pay for medicines you buy(if you have insurance coverage at work then it will help for this).


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

sslkumar said:


> if u are coming as a permanent resident then you will get the default govt coverage. No charge for normal visits to the hospital. You will only pay for medicines you buy(if you have insurance coverage at work then it will help for this).


Sorry to correct you but one does not require to be a PR, only a legal resident


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## Jared (Jun 15, 2010)

NLH said:


> Jared this is so helpful, thank you! I will be based out of Toronto but will be doing quite a bit of traveling around in the first few months as I have friends all over so I will definitely look into this.
> 
> Do you mind me asking where in Australia you are from? And how long you've been in Canada?


Hey Nadine,

Sorry, missed this response 

I'm from Tassie (no two head jokes!), and have been here this time for close to three years. I'm a serial offender though! Hence I constructed CanAussie.com to help out others doing the WHP, as I wished like hell that someone else had done it before me when we moved back here again!

From what I've read, in Ontario they aren't as strict on you having to be employed to get the health care there, so you should be okay just getting insurance to cover your first few months of travelling, then perhaps a month or two while you're in Ontario and working out the local OHIP health system. The guys that I've hooked up a deal with through CanAussie let you extend whenever and from wherever, so that makes things easy. Better than the one I had back when I first came over here in 2000, where I had to get my travel agent to dummy my return home and back to Canada again so I could extend my travel insurance...


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