How to extend an existing visitors to Canada insurance policy

Extend a visitors to Canada insurance policy before it expires, while the parent has made no claim and had no change in health. Contact the carrier at least 48 hours before the expiry date, which is GMS’s stated minimum, pay for the extra days, and make sure the new term starts the day the old one ends. Done this way there is no new waiting period. A gap of one day makes the next policy a purchase after arrival, with a 48-hour to 7-day illness wait.

What you need before you start

The policy number, the expiry date, the new departure date and an honest account of the parent’s health since arrival. Carriers ask whether any insured person has needed treatment or had a change in medication during the term. The answer decides whether an extension is possible.

How to extend, step by step

Allow one week before expiry, 48 hours at the absolute minimum. The request itself takes 10 to 20 minutes.

1. Find the expiry date on the certificate and count back 10 days. That is your deadline to start. Set a calendar reminder the day you buy the original policy.
2. Confirm the parent’s health has not changed. No doctor visits, tests, new prescriptions or dosage changes since the effective date. If any have occurred, go to the “if it goes wrong” section below.
3. Decide the new departure date and add three days. The extension is priced per day at the parent’s current age.
4. Contact the carrier or the agent who sold the policy. Manulife takes extension requests by phone before expiry; GMS asks for 48 hours’ notice; Secure Travel (iA Financial Group, claims by MSH) extends through the broker. SuperVisaDirect clients email [email protected] with the policy number and new date.
5. Answer the health questions again, if asked. PolicyAdvisor notes extensions are “subject to underwriting” and may require “new health declarations.”
6. Pay the extra days and check the new certificate. The new expiry date should follow directly from the old one with no gap. Save the PDF and send it to the parent.
7. If the stay is going past six months, file the visitor record application before the current status ends. The insurance extension and the immigration extension are separate; see visitor record extension.

What are each carrier’s extension rules?

All carriers require no claim and a request before expiry. The differences are in the maximum term, the notice period and whether the carrier treats the extension as the same policy or a new one.

Extension rules as read 18 October 2026 — confirm with the insurer at quote time.

Allianz is the outlier: a parent on an Allianz visitor plan who decides to stay longer must buy a new policy, with a 48-hour sickness wait. Families who expect to extend should choose another carrier at the outset.

What are the no-gap rules?

The new term must begin on the old expiry date. Carriers treat continuous cover as the same risk and waive the waiting period; a break resets everything. Three gaps are common and all are avoidable.

GMS states its waiting period is waived for a visitor “switching from another Canadian insurer with no gap in coverage.” Other carriers apply the waiver only to their own continuous policies. If switching, confirm the no-gap treatment in writing before paying.

What to do if the extension is refused

Buy a replacement policy from another carrier before the current one expires. The new carrier runs its own questionnaire, so any condition treated during the stay is now pre-existing and unstable and will be excluded. Unrelated emergencies are still covered after the waiting period.

Super visa holders renewing a one-year policy follow different rules, on the super visa renewals page.

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]). We serve Ontario residents; other provinces are planned for 2028. Email [email protected] or request a callback, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:00pm Eastern Time.