Guide · Updated September 2026
Which immigration statuses qualify for Ontario's health insurance, the residency rules you have to meet, the three documents ServiceOntario asks for, when coverage starts, and what your options are if you don't qualify yet.
The short version. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) covers Canadian citizens, permanent residents, protected persons and several temporary statuses, including people on a valid work permit who work full-time in Ontario for an Ontario employer for at least six months. You must make Ontario your primary home and be physically in the province for at least 153 days in any 12-month period. There is no longer a three-month waiting period: if you are eligible, coverage starts as soon as your application is approved. Visitors do not qualify, and a study permit is not on the eligibility list.
Key facts at a glance
In this guide
Your immigration status decides whether you can apply. The Ontario Ministry of Health lists these categories on its own application page.
| Your status | Eligible? | What Ontario requires |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian citizen | Yes | The residency rules below |
| Indigenous person registered under the federal Indian Act | Yes | The residency rules below |
| Permanent resident (formerly "landed immigrant") | Yes | The residency rules below |
| Applicant for permanent residence | Sometimes | You have applied to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), IRCC has confirmed it reviewed your application and that you meet the requirements to apply, and you have not been denied |
| Work permit holder | Sometimes | Valid work permit, working full-time in Ontario for an Ontario employer for at least 6 months. See below |
| Live-in Caregiver Program participant | Yes | Holding the relevant work permit |
| Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program participant | Yes | Holding the relevant work permit |
| Convention refugee or other protected person | Yes | The residency rules below |
| Temporary Resident Permit holder | Sometimes | Only certain case types |
| Clergy | Sometimes | Staying legally in Canada and ministering full-time for at least 6 months |
| Emergency authorization for humanitarian reasons, including the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) | Yes | Coverage lasts for the authorization, and for later authorizations issued for the same purpose |
| Visitor, from another province or from outside Canada | No | Ontario states visitors do not qualify |
Source: Ontario Ministry of Health, Apply for OHIP and get a health card (page updated 21 July 2025), read 18 September 2026. Check the ministry's page for your own case before you apply.
Yes, if the job meets Ontario's test. The requirement, in Ontario's words, is that you "are in Ontario on a valid work permit and are working full-time in Ontario, for an Ontario employer, for at least 6 months".
Three parts of that sentence decide most cases:
Your family may be covered too. Ontario states that if you meet this requirement, your spouse and dependants may also qualify.
An open work permit is not excluded, but the same test applies to the job you hold under it. If your work permit is tied to studies, see who is not eligible below.
Being eligible by status is not enough. You also have to live here. Ontario sets three residency conditions:
153 days is about five months. Long trips home during your first six months in Ontario can put your eligibility at risk, so count the days before you book.
There is one exception on Ontario's page: people who are eligible under the emergency-authorization provision are not required to make Ontario their primary place of residence.
Visitors are not, and a study permit is not on the list.
Three documents, one from each of ServiceOntario's three lists. Photocopies are not accepted.
| What it proves | Examples from the ministry's list | Original needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian citizenship or OHIP-eligible immigration status | Valid Canadian passport, or one expired no more than five years; a Canadian birth certificate; a valid permanent resident card, or one expired no more than five years; a letter from the Immigration and Refugee Board confirming convention refugee or protected person status | Yes, original |
| Residency in Ontario | Valid Ontario driver's licence; a utility bill such as hydro, gas, water or cable; monthly bank statements; a mortgage, rental or lease agreement | Original, printout or digital image |
| Your identity | Valid Ontario driver's licence or temporary licence; a passport, Canadian or foreign; a current employee ID; a student ID card | Yes, original |
Source: Ontario Ministry of Health, OHIP Document List, form 9998-82E (2022/10), and the ministry's application page, both read 18 September 2026. The full lists are longer than these examples — check them for what you actually hold.
One document can only be used once, so a driver's licence that proves your identity cannot also serve as your proof of residency. New arrivals who don't drive usually use a lease or a utility bill for residency, and a passport for identity.
In person at a ServiceOntario centre, and coverage starts as soon as you are approved. Ontario says you must apply in person, and that you can apply as soon as you arrive in the province.
There is no longer a waiting period. Ontario removed the three-month wait in March 2020, and its page now states that if you are eligible you have immediate coverage.
If your card has not arrived yet, our page on waiting for your OHIP card explains how to get care in the meantime.
Medically necessary doctor and hospital care. Ontario states that OHIP covers the full cost of medically necessary services, including in-person visits and virtual visits by video or telephone, and in hospital covers doctor and nursing services, tests such as blood work and x-rays, medications for in-patients, and accommodation and meals if you stay.
It does not cover everything. Ontario's page states that OHIP does not cover prescription drugs outside hospital, such as antibiotics prescribed by your family doctor, dental care in a dentist's office, or eyeglasses and contact lenses. Our guide to what OHIP covers and never covers goes through the full list, the eye-exam rules and the programs that fill the gaps.
You pay for care yourself, or through private insurance. That is the position for visitors, for most international students outside their plan, and for anyone whose status is not on Ontario's list.
Our guide to seeing a doctor in Ontario without a health card compares what each route costs, and seeing a doctor without OHIP covers what a virtual visit can and cannot do.
Yes, if you hold a valid work permit and are working full-time in Ontario, for an Ontario employer, for at least six months. Ontario states that if you meet this requirement, your spouse and dependants may also qualify. Live-in Caregiver Program and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program permits are listed separately as qualifying.
You must make Ontario your primary place of residence and be physically in Ontario for 153 days in any 12-month period. If you are new to the province, you must also be physically in Ontario for at least 153 of the first 183 days immediately after you begin living here. There is no longer a three-month waiting period before coverage starts.
A study permit is not on Ontario's OHIP eligibility list. International students are normally covered by a student plan such as the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) instead. A student who also holds a valid work permit and works full-time in Ontario for an Ontario employer for at least six months is assessed on that work permit.
No. Ontario states that visitors to Ontario from other Canadian provinces and territories, or from outside Canada, do not qualify for OHIP. Visitors, including parents and grandparents on a super visa, pay for care themselves or claim it through travel or super visa insurance.
One document proving Canadian citizenship or OHIP-eligible immigration status, one proving residency in Ontario, and one proving your identity, all from ServiceOntario's qualifying list. Photocopies are not accepted. The status and identity documents must be originals; the residency document may be an original, a printout or a digital image.
Coverage starts once your application is approved: Ontario states there is no longer a waiting period, and that you can apply as soon as you arrive in the province. The photo health card itself is mailed to you afterwards, so you may be covered for some weeks before the card arrives.
No. Ontario states that you must apply for OHIP in person at a ServiceOntario centre. Renewals and some replacements can be done online or by video call once you already hold a card.
You pay privately. A Doctor Fran consultation with a physician licensed in Ontario is a flat $82 by phone, with no health card needed, and follow-up appointments to review results are $59. Community health centres see uninsured patients at no charge where they have capacity, and walk-in clinics charge their own uninsured rates.
Related guides
Eligibility categories, the residency rules, the document rules and the coverage statements on this page were read on the Ontario Ministry of Health's own pages — Apply for OHIP and get a health card (updated 21 July 2025), What OHIP covers (updated 22 April 2026) and the OHIP Document List, form 9998-82E (2022/10) — and the Interim Federal Health Program rules on IRCC's own page, on 18 September 2026. Immigration and health-coverage rules change; check the ministry's pages for your own case before you apply. This page is general information, not medical, legal or immigration advice. In an emergency, call 911.
Speak to a physician licensed in Ontario by phone for a flat $82, with no health card needed. A doctor could call you in as little as 10 minutes.
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