Following a busy few days on the topic "Job hunting on a Tourist Visa" and the subsequent debates about TWP's etc, It got me thinking about healthcare insurance matters if one is in Canada on a work Permit. The following questions the so that one can make some informed comparisons:

1) Status when in Canada as a PR? Here I guess you qualify for the State Health and private "top-up" healthcare
2) Status when on TWP 6-months
3) Status when on TWP 12-months and longer

I split it between 6-months and 12-months due to some rule observations on certain web sites I have looked at. There appears to be a difference.

Regards

EvB

As I have mentioned on other postings, I am on a work permit, and day 2 in Canada (day 1 was recovery from the flight) I had to go into the local Service Canada office, and get my SIN card issued - that is where your life starts, you can't get anything before you have this. From there I went to Alberta Health and applied for the healthcare. The biggest issue is their requirement that you provide a local address and prove you are resident in Alberta. This is difficult, and being new, I could not meet that requirement as I did not have things like a cell phone bill or a utility bill that would show my address. They told me that they would accept a bank statement with my local address, so I got my local bank to give me a statement with my address (even though I was still living in a hotel and therefore using my employers address) and this was accepted. From that moment on, I was covered by Alberta Health. I am not sure what you are referring to with regards to 6 months or 1 year. In Alberta, that has no relevance - all persons whether on a TWP or PR must be covered by Alberta Health from the time of arrival, and your employer makes the deduction off your paycheque (Yes, you pay a monthly charge for this). Not sure about other provinces.

In BC you have to apply as soon as you arrive in Canada however, you have to wait for 3 months before you are covered. It costs $108 for our family of 5. I'm not sure if you are entitled to cover if you are only on a 6 month work permit.