Find out what OHIP covers when you’re temporarily outside Canada.

Check your health card before you go

You should bring your health card with you if you’re planning to travel outside of Canada, but first, make sure it’s still valid. A valid Ontario health card has:

• not expired
• your correct personal information on it (e.g. name, birthdate)
• your current address that’s on file with ServiceOntario

If you’ve moved, you can update your address online with ServiceOntario.

If your name has changed since receiving your current health card, you will need to visit ServiceOntario and bring a form and specific documents.

What OHIP covers outside Canada

OHIP covers a limited amount of the costs if you receive emergency health services while you’re travelling outside Canada.

Through the Out-of-Country Travellers Program, OHIP may cover:

• doctor services (e.g. medical assessments, emergency surgery)
• emergency outpatient services (e.g. MRIs, CT scans)
• emergency inpatient services (e.g. hospital stays, nursing services)

How to qualify

You qualify if you have:

• a valid Ontario health card
• lived in Ontario for less than six months and will be away for no more than 30 days
• lived in Ontario for more than six months and will be away no more than 212 days in any 12-month period

The treatment or service must meet all of the following criteria. It must be:

• medically necessary
• provided at a licensed hospital or licensed health facility
• for an illness, disease, condition or injury that
  • is acute and unexpected
  • not pre-existing (you developed it outside of Canada)
  • requires immediate treatment

Coverage details

Doctor services

OHIP will pay whichever of the following is less:

• the actual amount billed by doctor(s) who treated you outside Canada
• rates listed in and paid to Ontario physicians in the Ontario Schedule of Benefits for Physicians Services

Emergency outpatient services

OHIP will pay whichever of the following is less:

• up to $50 (Canadian) per day
• the amount billed by the hospital

Emergency inpatient services

OHIP will pay up to:

• $400 (Canadian) per day for services provided in:
  • an operating room
  • a coronary care unit
  • an intensive care unit
  • a neonatal or pediatric special care unit
• $200 (Canadian) per day for lower levels of care

We recommend that you buy private health insurance before leaving Ontario to cover any uninsured services you may need.

Away for more than seven months

If you plan to be outside Canada for more than seven months in any 12-month period you can keep your OHIP coverage for up to two years if you:

• have a valid health card
• make Ontario your primary home
• will be in Ontario for at least 153 days a year in each of the two years immediately before you leave the country

Before you leave, take the following items to the nearest ServiceOntario centre to make sure your OHIP coverage stays active:

• your health card
• proof of residency (e.g. mortgage, lease or rental agreement, property tax bill, valid driver’s licence)

 

For more info visit Ministry of Ontario OHIP webpage