Visitors to Canada Insurance

Visitors to Canada insurance is emergency medical coverage for people who are not covered by a Canadian provincial health plan — tourists, visiting family, parents on a visitor visa and returning Canadians without provincial coverage. It pays for emergency hospital, doctor and ambulance costs during the stay.

For a regular visitor visa it is not legally required, but it is strongly recommended: a single hospital stay in Canada can cost thousands of dollars per day for someone without provincial coverage. For a Super Visa, insurance is mandatory.

Plans range from $10,000 up to $300,000 or more depending on the insurer. For older travellers or longer stays, $100,000 or higher is a sensible minimum. Pankaj can show the price of each level side by side.

Ideally before the visitor arrives in Canada. If you buy after arrival, most insurers apply a waiting period — commonly 48 hours for injuries and up to 7–8 days for illness — during which sickness is not covered.

Yes, most policies can be extended before they expire if the visitor stays longer, provided no claim has been made or the insurer approves it. Contact Pankaj a few days before the end date.

You can cancel for a full refund any time before the effective date. After coverage starts, unused days are usually refundable if there are no claims, minus a small admin fee.

Yes. Insurers can decline a traveller who is terminally ill, who has been advised by a doctor not to travel, or who has certain serious conditions. Answering the medical questions accurately is essential.

It can. Many plans offer an option that covers stable pre-existing conditions such as controlled blood pressure, diabetes or cholesterol. 'Stable' means no change in treatment, medication or symptoms during a set period (often 90, 180 or 365 days) before coverage starts. You must answer every medical question honestly — a wrong answer can void a claim.

Many Super Visa and visitor plans cover short side trips outside Canada (for example to the USA) as long as most of the trip is spent in Canada and the trip does not include the home country. Limits differ by insurer, so check before travelling.

Call 911 if it is life-threatening. Otherwise, call the insurer's 24/7 emergency assistance number on the policy card before treatment whenever possible — they will direct you to a clinic or hospital and can often pay the provider directly. Then contact Pankaj for help with the claim.