Health insurance for work permit holders in Canada

Work permit holders in Ontario are covered by OHIP from the day they qualify, with no waiting period. In British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces the wait can run up to three months, and in every province there is a gap between landing and the day the health card arrives. A private permit-holder plan from GMS, TuGo, Allianz or Destination covers that gap for roughly $69 to $512 a month at $100,000 of coverage, and costs nothing extra in waiting periods if bought before the flight.

Which provinces make work permit holders wait?

Ontario does not. Since 2025, OHIP has no waiting period for eligible new residents, including work permit holders with a full-time permit of at least six months. British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador apply a wait of up to three months. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have no formal wait in current guidance but take weeks to issue a card, and a permit of at least twelve months is required in Alberta and Manitoba.

Sources: Ontario, PolicyAdvisor, SI Laws 2026 guide. Sources differ on Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces; treat “up to three months” as the planning assumption and confirm with the provincial plan. The full province-by-province table is on the waiting-period page.

What does an uninsured month cost?

A single emergency visit in Ontario is $414 to $1,242 and a ward day $1,335 to $4,005, depending on the hospital and whether the patient is classed as an uninsured resident or a non-resident. A worker in the waiting period is usually billed at the uninsured-resident rate, which is lower, but a broken wrist or an appendix can still run to five figures.

Sources: Niagara Health, Queensway Carleton. Physician fees are billed separately at both. Which rate applies to a permit holder in the waiting period is a hospital decision; do not count on the lower one.

Which carriers sell permit-holder plans?

GMS, TuGo, Allianz and Destination all sell their visitors-to-Canada product to work permit holders who are not yet covered by a provincial plan. Manulife and Secure Travel do too. The products are the same emergency medical plans sold to visiting parents, so the carrier comparison on the visitors page applies; the differences that matter for a worker are the waiting period and the maximum coverage.

Sources: GMS, TuGo policy wording, Allianz plan page and PolicyAdvisor review, Manulife guide. SuperVisaDirect sells TuGo, GMS, Destination, Allianz, Manulife and Secure Travel to Ontario residents; permit holders in other provinces can buy direct from the carrier until our provincial expansion in 2028.

What does it cost?

For $100,000 of coverage on a 30-day basis, PolicyAdvisor’s October 2026 survey puts premiums at about $69 a month at age 25 rising to $324 at 85 without pre-existing cover, and $92 to $512 with stable pre-existing conditions covered. A worker in their thirties with no conditions pays near the bottom of the range; a parent in their sixties joining a child’s household pays near the top.

Monthly premium, $100,000 coverage, 30-day basis, rates seen Oct 2026 — verify at quote time.

The 65-year-old figures are from the visitors to Canada page and apply to a parent on a permit-holder’s dependant status. A $500 deductible cuts roughly 15% at Manulife, and a longer term costs less per day than a rolling 30-day policy at most carriers.

Dependants: spouse and children

Dependants face the same waiting period as the worker and need the same cover. A spouse on an open work permit and children on study permits or visitor records are all uninsured until the province enrols them, and in BC and Quebec that is three months for everyone. Buy one application with each family member listed; children under 55 need no medical questions at most carriers.

Pregnancy is the exception to check. GMS does not cover pregnancy-related care, and most visitor-style plans exclude routine maternity. A spouse who is or may become pregnant during the waiting period should look at TuGo, which covers maternity to $6,000, and should apply for provincial coverage the day she lands. Children’s school-sport injuries are covered as accidents from the effective date everywhere.

Employer plans: what they do and do not cover

A Canadian group benefits plan normally sits on top of provincial coverage and pays for drugs, dental, vision and paramedical services. It does not usually pay hospital and physician bills in place of the province. PolicyAdvisor notes that employer coverage during the waiting period is not guaranteed and may be limited, and advises confirming the start date and benefits in writing.

Some employers that recruit abroad buy a bridge policy from a carrier for the waiting period. If yours does, ask for the certificate: it should name the insurer and underwriter, the coverage amount and the dates. If the answer is a benefits booklet with a 90-day eligibility wait, that is not hospital cover for the first three months, and you need a private plan.

The pre-arrival gap and why to buy before the flight

The policy should start the day the worker lands. Buying it before departure means no waiting period for illness at GMS, TuGo and Allianz; buying it after landing means 48 hours to 7 days with no illness cover, and anything that starts in that window stays excluded. A family that lands on Friday and buys on Monday has a weekend of exposure plus the waiting period.

Set the start date to the arrival date and the end date to the expected provincial coverage date plus two weeks, since cards do not arrive the day eligibility begins. If the province is Ontario, a four-week policy covering the card-processing period is usually enough. If it is BC or Quebec, buy the full three months plus two weeks. Early return refunds are pro rata if there has been no claim, less the carrier’s fee.

Moving between provinces

Provincial plans cover a resident for up to three months after a move to another province, which normally covers the new province’s wait. The gap appears when the old province’s extended coverage and the new province’s wait do not line up, or when the old coverage was itself conditional on a permit that has changed. A worker moving from Ontario to BC for a new employer should apply for MSP on arrival and hold a short private policy for the family until the MSP start date is confirmed in writing.

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; other provinces are coming in 2028. Get a quote for the waiting period, and see the study permit page if a family member is a student.