Guide for uOttawa international students · Updated August 2026
You have two plans from two different providers, and which GreenShield plan you hold depends on whether you are an undergraduate or a graduate student. Here is what each pays, and what neither does.
The short version. As an international student at the University of Ottawa you hold UHIP, administered by Cowan Insurance Group, costing $948 CAD for 2026–27. On top of that sits a GreenShield supplementary plan — through Studentcare and UOSU if you are an undergraduate, through GSAÉD if you are a graduate student. uOttawa states plainly that “UHIP does not cover medication, dental, vision, and some specialist services.” And even when UHIP does cover something, you can still be billed: Cowan reimburses at 125% of the OHIP Schedule of Benefits, and anything a doctor charges above that is yours to pay.
Key facts at a glance
In this guide
uOttawa describes Canadian health care as a two-tier system, and your coverage follows that shape.
Tier one is UHIP — mandatory basic insurance for international students, provided by Cowan Insurance Group, standing in for OHIP. It covers physician visits, hospital care, emergency treatment, surgery and some medical tests.
Tier two is GreenShield — but which GreenShield depends on your level of study, and this is where students go wrong:
The University itself only administers UHIP. For anything on the supplementary plan — coverage limits, opt-outs, claim deadlines — uOttawa directs you to UOSU or GSAÉD rather than answering it.
| Service | UHIP (Cowan) | GreenShield supplementary |
|---|---|---|
| Doctor and clinic visits | Covered, to 125% of the OHIP Schedule | Not applicable |
| Hospital and emergency care, surgery | Covered | Not applicable |
| Some medical tests | Covered | Not applicable |
| Prescription medication | Not covered | Covered — check your plan’s terms |
| Dental | Not covered | Covered |
| Vision and eyewear | Not covered | Covered |
| Some specialist services | Not covered | Check your plan |
| HPV and hepatitis B vaccines | Not covered | May be covered |
| Vitamin D and B12 blood tests | Not covered | May be covered |
| Ambulance | Generally not covered | Check your plan |
| Doctor’s notes and forms | Not covered — uninsured service | Not covered |
Sources: University of Ottawa student health insurance pages and UHIP FAQ, verified August 2026. Confirm supplementary terms with UOSU or GSAÉD.
This is the single most useful thing on uOttawa’s UHIP FAQ, and almost nobody reads it until after they have been charged.
uOttawa: “It’s normal to have additional fees not covered by UHIP when you receive medical care and submit your claim form for reimbursement. Cowan refunds at 125% of the OHIP Schedule of Benefits and fees. If a doctor charges more than UHIP refunds, you must pay the difference.”
So UHIP is more generous than the bare OHIP rate — a point often stated wrongly elsewhere, including in guides that say UHIP pays “OHIP-equivalent rates”. But it is still a ceiling. A clinic charging uninsured patients well above the schedule leaves you with a gap, and that gap is not a billing error.
Two practical consequences. First, use the Cowan Preferred Provider Network wherever possible — those clinics bill Cowan directly at UHIP rates, so nothing comes out of your pocket. Second, if you must pay up front, uOttawa’s instruction is to see the provider, pay, and submit a claim to Cowan for reimbursement — keeping the itemised receipt.
UHIP is $948 CAD per year, or $79 per month, tax included, for the policy year from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027 — up from $792 the year before. A student plus one dependant is $1,896; a student plus two or more is $2,844. Starting in January is prorated to roughly $632, and May to roughly $316. It is added to your student account, and your Statement of Account showing UHIP is itself accepted as proof of coverage at the campus centre.
The GreenShield supplementary fee is charged separately by UOSU or GSAÉD and appears with your student fees. Because the two associations set their own rates, check yours rather than assuming a figure.
Student Health and Wellness Centre
Fall and winter hours: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Saturday and Sunday. The schedule may be adjusted for demand and staffing, and the Centre closes on statutory holidays.
The Centre serves University of Ottawa and Saint Paul University students, and is staffed by a multidisciplinary team — physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, psychotherapists, psychologists and psychiatrists working in a shared-care model.
How booking actually works. Appointment slots for the coming week are released online every Friday at 8 a.m. A limited number of same-day appointments with a registered nurse are released daily at 8 a.m., with no guarantee one will be available. Mental health intake appointments can be booked up to four days ahead. Book through the Centre’s portal, the TELUS Health Connect app, by phone on 613-562-5777, in person, or via the wellness chatbot.
Bring your UHIP number and student card to every appointment. Most services require no payment — they are funded by your ancillary health fee or covered by UHIP. A fee is charged for any appointment cancelled or missed within 24 hours.
The Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmacy Care Clinic is now part of the Student Health and Wellness Centre, in Room N209 at the same Minto Sports Complex address. Its pharmacist sits within the Centre’s circle of care, and Ontario pharmacists can assess and prescribe for a defined list of minor ailments.
| Service | Cost |
|---|---|
| Questions about medication, including over the counter | Free, for anyone |
| Fill or renew a prescription with no change | $15 |
| Assess a minor ailment and prescribe — for example a urinary tract infection or pink eye | Covered for OHIP patients · $19 without OHIP |
| Injection | $20 — flu and COVID-19 vaccines free |
| Testing | $25 HbA1c · $35 lipid profile |
Pharmacy Care Clinic hours: Monday to Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., closed Sunday. Room N209, Minto Sports Complex · 613-788-2029. Source: University of Ottawa, verified August 2026.
We would rather you knew this. If you have a urinary tract infection or pink eye during opening hours, uOttawa is explicit that you can be seen for a minor ailment at the Student Health and Wellness Centre — which accepts UHIP, so at no cost — or pay $19 at the Pharmacy Care Clinic. Both are cheaper than us. Use them.
Four gaps, none of which is your fault.
The Student Health and Wellness Centre runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and is closed both weekend days. The Pharmacy Care Clinic closes at 4 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. on Saturday, and is closed Sunday. Between 4 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday there is a single Saturday morning window on the entire campus.
The daily 8 a.m. release is a small number of registered-nurse appointments. Weekly slots go live once a week, on Friday morning. If you are unwell on a Tuesday afternoon and the week is full, there is no queue to join.
Minor ailment assessment covers a defined list. It does not extend to complex or undiagnosed problems, specialist referrals, or medical documentation for your faculty. For those you need a physician.
Medical documentation is an uninsured service in Ontario. OHIP does not fund it, so UHIP does not either, and it is not a GreenShield benefit. That cost is yours regardless of how well insured you are.
If you cannot submit an assignment or complete an evaluation because of an absence, uOttawa requires you to complete a Declaration of absence from an evaluation. The Student Health and Wellness Centre links to this form directly, and your faculty sets the deadline for submitting it.
We do not host copies of University of Ottawa forms — get the current version from the Centre or your faculty, because forms are revised and an outdated one can be refused. What we can tell you is what a physician needs in order to complete one.
Most often: it was completed after the fact for dates the physician never assessed, it is missing a registration number or signature, or it arrived after the faculty deadline. A physician can only attest to what they assessed — so book for the period you are actually unwell, not afterwards.
Before paying anyone, check what your student association already gives you.
Where Doctor Fran fits. After 4 p.m., at weekends, when the week’s slots are gone, when you need documentation for a Declaration of absence, or when the problem is beyond a pharmacist’s minor-ailment list — a physician licensed in Ontario and registered with the CPSO calls you by phone, usually within about 10 minutes, for a flat $82. Documentation is issued at the physician’s clinical discretion as part of the consultation, and you receive an itemised receipt to submit to Cowan.
If the campus centre is open and can see you, or a $19 pharmacist assessment covers it, or you are a graduate student with Mindstride — use those first.
UHIP is your basic medical insurance, provided by Cowan Insurance Group, covering doctor visits, hospital care and surgery. GreenShield is your supplementary plan covering what UHIP excludes — medication, dental, vision and paramedical services. Undergraduates hold Studentcare–GreenShield through UOSU; graduate students hold GreenShield through GSAÉD. The University administers only UHIP.
Because Cowan reimburses at 125% of the OHIP Schedule of Benefits and fees. If a doctor charges more than that, you pay the difference. uOttawa describes these additional fees as normal. Using a clinic in the Cowan Preferred Provider Network avoids it, because those clinics bill Cowan directly at UHIP rates.
No. The University of Ottawa states that UHIP does not cover medication, dental, vision, and some specialist services. Prescriptions fall to your GreenShield supplementary plan through UOSU or GSAÉD.
Fall and winter hours are Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Centre is closed on Saturday and Sunday and on statutory holidays. It is at the Minto Sports Complex, 801 King Edward Avenue, Room N203, second floor. Book through the Centre’s portal, the TELUS Health Connect app, by phone on 613-562-5777, or in person. Weekly appointment slots are released every Friday at 8 a.m., and a limited number of same-day registered-nurse appointments are released daily at 8 a.m.
Most Student Health and Wellness Centre services require no payment, because they are funded through ancillary health fees or covered by UHIP. At the on-campus Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmacy Care Clinic, a minor ailment assessment such as a urinary tract infection or pink eye costs $19 for a non-OHIP patient, a prescription renewal is $15, an injection is $20, and testing is $25 to $35.
The campus Centre closes at 4 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend, and the Pharmacy Care Clinic closes at 4 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Graduate students have free 24/7 access to doctors and nurse practitioners through the Mindstride programme via GSAÉD. Undergraduates have 24/7 counselling through Empower Me via UOSU, which is mental health support rather than medical care. Otherwise a telemedicine consultation, a walk-in clinic in the Cowan Preferred Provider Network, or an emergency department for anything serious.
If you cannot complete an evaluation because of an absence, uOttawa requires a Declaration of absence from an evaluation, and your faculty may request supporting medical documentation. Medical documentation is an uninsured service in Ontario, so neither UHIP nor GreenShield pays for it.
Related guides
All figures, fees and hours on this page were verified in August 2026 against the University of Ottawa pages listed below. UHIP premiums reset each 1 September, campus hours change between term and summer, and student association plans are renegotiated annually — verify before relying on any detail here. General information only, not insurance, academic or medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.
Flat $82 for every appointment (except insurance forms), a doctor could call in as little as 10 minutes, and you get a receipt for your UHIP claim.
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