Canada has a socialized medical system – administered through the provinces. The system is available to people with various forms of residence status in Canada, including foreign workers (for our purposes, we will be looking at foreign workers only in this article). However, there are various rules for eligibility, set by each province, typically including an applicant to have a minimum amount of time spent in a particular province, and valid eligible immigration status. The specifics will vary from province to province.
Separately from this, there is a rule in the federal immigration system whereby foreign workers already in Canada who apply to extend their worker status, but have not yet received a renewal of their work permit before the expiry of their current work permit, are considered to be under ‘Maintained Status’ (formerly ‘Implied Status’). This means that the government allows the person to continue to work without a work permit, until the matter is adjudicated. This is a perfectly legitimate legal basis under which to work in Canada.
A problem sometimes occurs though in the intersection of the provincial health insurance eligibility rules, and federal Maintained Status. The question becomes: is a foreign worker entitled to their provincial health coverage while on Maintained Status? The status may be legitimate under the federal rules, but what does it entitle a worker to in the provincial system? The federal and provincial systems do not always align in this regard.
For one province at least, Ontario, there has been some recent clarification. Under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), a six-month extension of OHIP coverage will be allowed, pending receipt of the new work permit. To secure this coverage, an applicant must contact oerc@ontario.ca and provide:
- The most recent expired work permit
- Confirmation of continued full-time employment for an employer in Ontario
- Confirmation from IRCC that the temporary foreign worker applied to extend his/her work permit prior to its expiry date, such as a receipt from IRCC
- Residency documentation, and
- Identity documentation.
In some cases, where, for example, a determination about OHIP coverage while Maintained Status is pending, a person may have to pay medical costs, but may be able to seek reimbursement once the determination is made.
Though these provisions are not as explicit in all provinces, the same theory should hopefully be applicable everywhere, and be confirmed as time goes on.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.