What are my healthcare options while we wait?

[3yrs_counting]

I have applied for my PR in July 2014. Received the letter it had been received by Immigration Canada. Following the timeline its going to be well over 2 1/2 years I will be here with no healthcare. My husband is military and I’m sure we will be posted out to somewhere else where I still won’t have healthcare or out of the country before my application is even reviewed. I have seen private healthcare for people on a visitor status but there is no way we can afford that right now. I don’t go out in winter and am very careful the rest of the year because I can’t afford to get hurt. It’s really wearing me down. What have you or someone in this position had to do?

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your question with us. I understand that this must be a very stressful situation for you.

You may want to try visiting a local Community Health Centre (CHC) , as some of them serve people who do not have health insurance.

You can also access Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 to speak with a registered nurse. The service is free and confidential.

I hope this information is helpful and that your situation improves. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Julia
Settlement.Org Team

[3yrs_counting]

Thank you for the information. Being a nurse luckily I am able to treat most situations. I have tried the CHC but have been told as I am deemed a “visitor” that I am not eligible for care. Being in such a small place there isn’t even care for my daughter who is a Canadian citizen by her father and we have to go the emergency room for any little thing as we have no doctor and only 2 walk in clinic that require appointment made the same day as care or waiting in line at 6 am hoping that we will be one of the 20 people they see each day. I’m really upset at the whole situation really. So discouraging and scary to not even have basic care.

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hi There,

Thanks for sharing your question and situation with us. We can appreciate that this is a difficult situation.

You may find our article Where can I get health care if I don’t have OHIP? useful.

It may also be important to note that CIC has recently made some changes to the sponsorship program:

Effective December 22, 2014, eligible spouses or common-law partners have the opportunity to work in Canada while they wait for their application for permanent residence to be processed. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will issue open work permits to certain spouses or common-law partners who are applying for permanent residence from inside Canada, before the approval in principle decision on their application is made.

Given this information, if you are eligible for an open work permit, you may then be eligible for OHIP according to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s website:

Open work permit holders may be eligible for Ontario health insurance coverage provided they are employed full-time for an employer in Ontario for a minimum of six months, have a valid work permit during this time, and they:
-maintain their primary place of residence in Ontario; and are
-physically present in Ontario for at least 153 days in any 12-month period; and are
-physically present in Ontario for 153 of the first 183 days immediately after establishing residency in the province.

You may want to contact the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Call Centre for more information and the Service Ontario to confirm the information provided above.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

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Theresa
Information & Referral Specialist, CIRS
Your Settlement.Org Team