You may have also heard that Canadians receive health care through taxpayer-funded programs in their province of residence. However, these health care programs only apply to permanent residents.

If you are visiting Canada to study, you will need insurance to see a doctor or to seek treatment at a hospital in an emergency. Without insurance, you will need to pay these (often hefty) bills upfront.

As you’re completing your visa forms and filling out your school applications, there’s one more thing you have to add to your to-do list. Read on to learn how visiting students can obtain health insurance in Canada.

Emergency Medical Insurance for International Students

The last thing a student on a tight budget while studying abroad needs to worry about is a large medical bill. Emergency medical insurance for students can offer an affordable solution for those studying in Canada.

Even if you had a travel insurance benefit under your parents’ insurance, once you arrive in Canda, you will need a different kind of coverage for trips to the doctor that are not an emergency. Fortunately, if you are a full-time international student under the age of 66, there are health insurance plans that can provide coverage for routine visits to the doctor, and help protect you from financial hardship if you need emergency medical care.

You can complete an online application form for emergency medical coverage for international students. This is particularly useful if you are in a different time zone and are having difficulty finding a good time for making an overseas phone call!

Apply Before Arriving in Canada

Generally, it’s best to apply for your insurance coverage before you arrive in Canada. First and foremost, this means you will be covered for the entire length of your stay in the country, including the first few days. You will have more varied access to all of the plans and rate options if you apply for insurance before leaving home.

However, if you have already left home and didn’t understand the need for insurance coverage before you arrived, it might not be too late!

Insurance coverage for your time as a student in Canada will be a little harder to obtain if you have already left your country of permanent residence. However, this doesn’t mean it will be impossible. The sooner you start to work with an insurance company in Canada specializing in this type of coverage, the sooner you can relax and enjoy the rest of your stay.

Make Sure All Your Needs are Covered

The necessity of insurance may seem confusing if you have read about the insurance offered to students by some universities and colleges. This is supplemental insurance coverage that is designed to protect Canadian students who are already covered by a provincial plan.

It’s true that Canada provides health care to its permanent residents through the province or territory they live in, but there are a number of treatments that fall outside of the government insurance plans. These include dental care, prescription drugs, vision care, ambulance transportation, and medical equipment like crutches. The physiotherapy one might need to recover from an accident is also not covered.

This means that if you purchase an emergency medical coverage policy to allow you to see a doctor in Canada, you will have to read your policy details very thoroughly to find out exactly what is covered. It may well be that a very inexpensive insurance offering could end up costing a lot more money in the long run, if treatments you need are not covered.

The best way to make sure you’re buying the right coverage at the right price is to work with an insurance broker.

It’s Never Too Early to Find a Broker

As you move through your life, you will work with experts in many fields, like lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors. One important professional to add to that list is an insurance broker.

Brokers work with their clients to help find the right insurance solutions for the various ages and stages of their lives. You’re never too young to find an insurance broker who can assist you for many years to come.

Whether you’re just starting to consider studying in Canada, or you’re already finalizing plans for the big move, it’s crucial to make sure your health care needs are covered while you are here. We can help you with a single phone call to one of our customer service representatives. Let’s get started!