Out of Province Students

Students studying out of province can maintain their home province medical plan for the duration of their studies. Students are usually required to contact their provincial medical plan office and notify them of their plan to study out of province (Some provinces will need some documents).  Not all coverage is the same between provinces, and some services are not provided.

Information from:

[Alberta ] [Saskachewan ] [Manitoba] [Ontario] [ Quebec ] [New Brunswick ] [Nova Scotia] [ Newfoundland & Labrador ] [PEI] [ NWT ] [Yukon] [Nunavut]

Coverage on most out of province medical plan is subject to a reciprocal billing agreement between provinces. The Reciprocal Billing Agreement allows students to use their home province medical card at the doctor or hospital out of province. Quebec is not a signatory to the reciprocal billing agreement.

Some coverage provided at home may not be provided outside the province and the student will have to pay up front. In some cases these services can be reimbursed by the home province. Information on coverage under reciprocal billing is difficult to find. Students are advised to ask their home province health isurance program if they have concerns. the Canadian Institute for Health Information provides the following summary of excluded coverage as of 2007:

“Services Excluded Under the Interprovincial
Reciprocal Billing Agreement
Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information, Reciprocal Billing Report, Canada, 2004–2005, Revised August 2007
(Ottawa: CIHI, 2007). Retreived October 12, 2011 from: http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/products/RB_report_2007_e.pdf