Travel insurance for a trip to India: what OHIP pays, what to buy, and what to check

Buy a single-trip emergency medical policy for every traveller before a trip to India. OHIP pays at most $400 a day for hospital care abroad and nothing for a transfer home, per Ontario’s page, and the Government of Canada’s India advisory says most hospitals require up-front payment or confirmation of insurance before treatment. Hospital bills in India are modest by Canadian standards; an air ambulance to Canada is not. Over-55s and anyone on medication need the questionnaire completed before the pre-trip clinic visit.

India accounts for 56% of super visa parents, so most families reading this will travel with a mix of Canadian citizens, permanent residents and a parent on a visitor status. Each needs a different policy; the table at the end sorts them.

What does OHIP actually pay in India?

Fixed daily amounts, in Canadian dollars, after you pay the hospital and claim. OHIP’s Out-of-Country Travellers Program pays up to $400 a day for care in an operating room, intensive care, coronary or neonatal unit, $200 a day for lower levels of care, $50 a day for emergency outpatient care, and physician services at the lesser of the billed amount or the Ontario Schedule of Benefits rate.

Source: Ontario. Ontario tried to cancel the program on 1 January 2020 and the Divisional Court struck the regulation down in September 2020; see what provincial plans pay abroad for the history and other provinces.

Why is evacuation the real exposure?

Because Indian hospital prices are low and air ambulance prices are not. A corporate hospital in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh or Hyderabad charges a fraction of a Canadian hospital for a room, surgery or ICU, which is why some families consider self-funding. The number that breaks that plan is the flight: ITIJ quotes an operator putting a flight to the patient’s home country at up to US$150,000, against about US$25,000 to the nearest centre of excellence.

The Government of Canada’s travel insurance page lists medical evacuation to Canada or the nearest appropriate facility, with a medical escort, as the first thing a policy must cover. It also notes the Government of Canada will not pay your medical bills. For a stroke in a village in Punjab, the policy’s assistance company decides whether to stabilize locally, move to a city hospital, or fly home; without a policy the family makes that decision with its own money.

Single-trip or annual multi-trip?

Single-trip for the typical four- to eight-week visit; annual only for a family that also makes several short trips. BMO’s guide gives annual plans per-trip limits of 4, 10 or 23 days depending on the plan, with top-ups available if bought before the base coverage ends, and warns that exceeding the limit without a top-up can suspend coverage for the whole trip.

See annual multi-trip plans for the arithmetic.

What do the carriers require for pre-existing conditions?

A stability period before departure, longer with age. Allianz’s certificate requires 90 days of stability under 60 and 180 days from 60 to 89, and defines stable as no new treatment, change in treatment, new symptoms, deteriorating results, hospitalization or specialist referral, per its certificate. Our carrier fact sheet records the others.

Source: SuperVisaDirect carrier fact sheet, October 2026; verify at quote time. Buy the policy before the pre-trip clinic visit, because a new prescription or a dose change inside the window makes the condition unstable at every carrier.

Which regions are excluded, and what about dengue?

Regions under an avoid-all-travel advisory at purchase are commonly excluded from claims; dengue and malaria are covered as emergencies if they arise on the trip. The India advisory of 14 October 2026 says to exercise a high degree of caution countrywide, avoid all travel to Jammu and Kashmir (not Ladakh) and to areas within 10 km of the Pakistan border in Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, and avoid non-essential travel to Manipur. Many Punjabi families have villages inside that 10 km band; check the policy wording for how it treats regional advisories before relying on coverage there.

Dengue is a risk throughout India, with no vaccine or preventive medication available in Canada, and malaria is a risk in some areas and seasons, per the same advisory. Both are sudden illnesses on the trip and are covered as emergencies; the pre-trip travel clinic visit, about six weeks out, is also when the questionnaire should already be done.

Who needs which policy on a family trip to India?

Every traveller, with the policy matched to their status.

If someone is admitted, call the assistance line before treatment or within 24 hours; Allianz, for example, pays only 80% of eligible expenses when it is not notified without reasonable cause. The claims guide has the sequence.

SuperVisaDirect is operated by Super Visa Direct Insurance Services, an independent Ontario life and accident-and-sickness insurance agency licensed by FSRA (licence [FSRA-LICENCE]), serving Ontario residents; British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are planned for 2028. Designated licensed agent: Cameron Hayes. Email [email protected] or request a callback, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:00pm Eastern Time. For the parent’s own super visa policy, see super visa insurance from India.