Guide for super visa families · Updated August 2026
Emergency department, urgent care, walk-in clinic, a phone consultation, or wait until morning — the right answer depends on the symptoms, not on the cost. Here is how to tell them apart.
Call 911 now — do not read the rest of this page
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada advises calling 9-1-1 immediately for any of these signs of a heart attack:
And for the FAST signs of a stroke — Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 9-1-1. The Foundation is explicit: “Do not drive to the hospital. An ambulance will get you to the best hospital for stroke care.”
Also call 911 for severe difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, a seizure, sudden confusion or unresponsiveness, a severe allergic reaction, or a serious fall with a suspected broken bone or head injury.
Having no OHIP is not a reason to hesitate. An Ontario emergency department treats the patient first and bills afterwards, and paramedics do not ask about insurance before they help. A delayed stroke or heart attack costs more than any hospital bill.
The short version. With no Ontario health card, every option below is paid out of pocket, and the amounts differ enormously — one Toronto hospital publishes $1,025 for an emergency visit by an out-of-country patient, and $473 for an outpatient clinic visit at the same hospital. But cost is the second question. The first is whether this is an emergency, and the answer to that has nothing to do with insurance.
Key facts at a glance
In this guide
Read the left column first. The cost column is there so that nothing comes as a shock afterwards, not so that it decides anything.
| What is happening | Where to go | What a visitor pays |
|---|---|---|
| Chest pain, stroke signs, severe breathlessness, seizure, uncontrolled bleeding, sudden confusion, serious fall | Call 911 | Ambulance $240 at Sunnybrook's published rate, plus the hospital's own charges |
| Serious but not immediately life-threatening — a suspected fracture, a deep cut, a high fever with confusion, severe abdominal pain, sudden severe vomiting in a frail parent | Emergency department | $930 to $1,025 for an out-of-country patient at the two hospitals whose schedules we read |
| Needs seeing today, but is not an emergency — a nasty infection, a sprain, a wound that may need closing | Urgent care centre or walk-in clinic | Set by each clinic; phone and ask before going |
| Ran out of medication, a repeat prescription, a chest infection, a rash, a referral, a sick note, a question about a symptom | Virtual appointment with an Ontario physician | Flat $82 with Doctor Fran; other services vary |
| A minor ailment — a urinary tract infection, reflux, hay fever, a cold sore, an insect bite | A pharmacist | Often the cheapest route and sometimes free; pharmacists can prescribe for a defined list |
| Not sure how serious it is, at any hour | Call 8-1-1 | Free |
Hospital figures are each hospital's own published rate for uninsured or out-of-country patients, read from their own fee pages in August 2026. Every hospital sets its own rates, so these are illustrative of the range, not a provincial price list.
Emergency departments in Ontario triage by severity, not by arrival time and not by insurance. A parent with chest pain is seen ahead of a parent with a painful ankle who arrived two hours earlier. This is worth explaining to a family member who has never used the system, because a long wait can feel like being ignored when it is in fact a good sign about the severity of the problem.
Go to the emergency department, rather than a clinic, when the problem is serious enough that it might need imaging, intravenous treatment, admission, or a specialist the same day. A suspected fracture, a wound that will not stop bleeding, severe abdominal pain, a fever with confusion in an older person, a sudden severe headache unlike any before — these belong in an emergency department.
Bring a payment method and expect to be asked for it. Uninsured patients are usually asked to pay or to register a card at some point during the visit, and hospitals may ask for a deposit before non-emergency services. Ask for an itemised receipt before leaving, whatever your insurance situation — you cannot claim against a bill you do not have.
Between the emergency department and a booked appointment sits a category that is genuinely useful and slightly confusing. Urgent care centres handle problems that need same-day attention but not a hospital: fractures, stitches, infections. Walk-in clinics handle everyday primary care without an appointment.
Both will often see a patient with no health card, and both charge the patient directly because there is no OHIP number to bill. Fees are set clinic by clinic and are rarely published, which means the only reliable way to know is to phone and ask. It is a reasonable question and staff are used to it. Ask specifically what the visit costs for a patient with no OHIP, and whether that includes anything done during the visit.
More detail on this, including what to say when you call, is on our guide to seeing a doctor in Ontario without a health card.
A phone or video consultation with a physician licensed in Ontario suits a specific and quite common set of problems: a repeat prescription, a medication that has run out, a chest or urinary infection that has been building for days, a rash, a referral to a specialist, a sick note, or simply a question that needs a doctor rather than a search engine.
It suits them because none of those require anyone to be examined in a room, and because the alternative — an emergency department at four times the price and six hours of waiting — is a poor use of everyone's evening.
It is not the right choice for anything in the red box at the top of this page, for a problem that needs examining, imaging or bloodwork before it can be treated safely, or for a parent who is deteriorating. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario requires a physician who determines that in-person care is needed to say so and to help the patient get it — so a consultation that ends with “you need to be seen today” has done its job.
Ontario runs a free provincial health advice line. Dial 8-1-1, at any hour, and a registered nurse will talk through the symptoms and advise what to do next. It costs nothing and it is confidential.
It is worth using at the moment families most often get the decision wrong: late at night, with a parent who feels unwell but not dramatically so, and nobody sure whether this can wait until morning. A nurse who does this all day is better placed to judge that than a worried adult child, and the call may save an unnecessary $1,000 visit — or catch something that should not have waited.
What 8-1-1 cannot do is treat anyone. It gives advice and direction. It cannot prescribe, write a note, or arrange a test. If the advice is “this needs a doctor today”, you still need a doctor.
Hospitals in Ontario set their own rates for patients the province does not insure, and publish them. The figures below come from two hospitals' own fee pages, read in August 2026. They are not a provincial price list — they are here to show how wide the range is, and how much the label attached to a patient matters.
| Service | Michael Garron Hospital, Toronto — out-of-country | Queensway Carleton Hospital, Ottawa — non-resident |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency department visit | $1,025 (includes the emergency physician's fee) | $930 |
| Outpatient or clinic visit | $473 | $930 |
| Inpatient, standard ward, per day | $3,100 | $2,990 |
| Intensive care, per day | $4,500 | $6,000 |
Sources: Michael Garron Hospital (Toronto East Health Network) hospital fees page, which publishes no effective date; Queensway Carleton Hospital uninsured and non-resident fees, effective 1 April 2021. Both read 26 August 2026. Rates are set by each hospital and change without notice.
Two things in that table are worth pausing on. First, at Michael Garron an outpatient clinic visit is roughly half the cost of an emergency visit for the same patient — the setting matters more than the illness. Second, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre requires a $10,000 deposit at the time of admission from uninsured patients, and states that physician fees are charged separately, directly by the consulting physicians, on top of the hospital's own account. The hospital's bill is not the whole bill.
Whether any of this is recoverable depends on the policy, and for most super visa policies the answer is narrower than families expect. That is covered in what super visa insurance won't cover. Some policies also require you to telephone the insurer's assistance line before attending a hospital or clinic, and can refuse the claim if you did not — but in a genuine emergency, call 911 first. No insurer expects a call before an ambulance.
Yes. Emergency departments assess and treat patients regardless of insurance status, and bill afterwards. Ontario hospitals publish separate rate schedules for uninsured residents of Canada and for out-of-country patients, and the patient is responsible for that amount. Having no coverage is not a reason to delay seeking emergency care.
There is no single provincial price, because each hospital sets its own rates for patients the province does not insure. Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto publishes $1,025 for an emergency visit by an out-of-country patient, including the emergency physician's fee, and $725 for an uninsured Ontario resident. Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa publishes $930 for a non-resident of Canada on a schedule effective 1 April 2021. Ask the hospital directly for its current rate.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre publishes $240 for a patient who does not have a valid Ontario health card. A patient who does hold a valid Ontario health card pays a $45 co-payment where the transport meets the required conditions. The Ontario Ministry of Health sets, bills and collects ambulance fees, and the bill arrives after the event rather than at the time.
Go to the emergency department if the problem might need imaging, intravenous treatment, admission or a same-day specialist — a suspected fracture, uncontrolled bleeding, severe abdominal pain, a fever with confusion in an older person, or a sudden severe headache. A walk-in clinic or urgent care centre suits problems that need attention today but not a hospital. For anything in the emergency signs list, call 911 rather than choosing between them.
Health811 is Ontario's provincial health advice line. Dial 8-1-1 at any hour, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, to speak to a registered nurse. It is free and confidential, and it is a sensible first call when you cannot tell how serious something is. It gives advice and direction only — it cannot prescribe, write a note or arrange a test.
For many problems, yes. A consultation with a physician licensed in Ontario can handle a repeat prescription, a medication that has run out, a chest or urinary infection, a rash, a referral or a sick note without anyone leaving the house. It is not appropriate for emergency signs, for a problem that needs examining or testing before it can be treated safely, or for a parent who is getting worse. Where in-person care is needed, an Ontario physician is required to tell you so and help you access it.
Related guides
Emergency signs on this page are quoted from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Hospital charges were read in August 2026 from each hospital’s own published fee page; every Ontario hospital sets its own rates for uninsured and out-of-country patients, and one of the two schedules quoted carries an effective date of 1 April 2021. Ambulance figures are as published by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the City of Toronto; the Ontario Ministry of Health sets ambulance fees. Health811 details are as published by an Ontario hospital, because the province’s own page could not be retrieved on the date of writing. This page is general information about where to seek care in Ontario. It is not medical advice, cannot tell you how serious a particular symptom is, and is no substitute for assessment by a clinician. If you are worried, call 8-1-1. In an emergency, call 911.
A consultation with an Ontario physician is flat $82, by phone, with no health card needed — for prescriptions, infections, referrals and notes. If your parent needs to be seen in person, we will tell you that instead.
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