Delivery Cost for International student

[mordabenilofari]

Dear Friends,
I have a question. I am international student (without PR) and my wife accompanying with me in Montreal. We decided to have a baby here. Although we know that the child will have Canadian citizenship, we don't know government of Canada will support delivery costs! Or the baby will receive any benefits!
Please let us know
Thank you!

 

[newtone]

Canadian government will not support you. You have to pay from your oen pocket. Costs range anyehere from $10,000 to $15,000. Alternatively you can hire a midwife and deliver at home

 

[Rob_TO]

If she is not yet pregnant, she can get certain travel insurance products that will cover pregnancy costs as long as she doesn't get pregnant until after a certain amount of time has passed. These kinds of insurances will usually pay for check-ups, blood tests, ultrasounds, emergencies due to pregnancy, etc etc. However most likely it will NOT cover any costs of delivering baby at a hospital.

A simple and natural hospital delivery will cost approx $3-$5K. If any complications or a c-section is required, that's when costs can quickly jump to over $10K.

If you get a midwife, they will guide you through pregnancy and all their services are free. Only if you have a simple pregnancy with no complications, will they allow you to choose a home birth option (which would be free). Any difficulties arise, and they will force you to do a hospital birth. A hospital birth done through a midwife though is much cheaper, since usually no doctors are required unless there is an emergency, and they can discharge you just 4-5 hours after delivery.

I don't know about Quebec, but here in Toronto midwives are in extremely high demand so if you don't request one as soon as you become pregnant, often you can't get one or are put on a waiting list.

 

[Leon]

Some provinces cover international students and some don't. If you and your wife are not covered by RAMQ, the delivery costs will not be covered. If you are the student and your wife get an open work permit based on your study permit and starts working, it is possible that she could get RAMQ. Working at least 600 hours before going on maternity leave will also make her eligible for EI maternity and parental benefits.

At least, you should talk to RAMQ first and if you can't get coverage, you should think about getting private insurance before she gets pregnant. After she gets pregnant, it is too late for a private plan.

 

[goldenbrown]

If the person is already pregnant there is coverage from Manulife that applies for medical care, injuries and pregnancy related emergencies (bleeding, abdominal pain, miscarriage). After that you should be looking at ways to get provincial coverage. If all else fails you can look up midwives services in your area- in some cases they can provide help free of charge. Community centers can also help with finding appropriate help.

If the person is not yet pregnant there are more options you can consider. You can refer to that page for more info:

<a href=https://arbetovinsurance.com/2014/10/01/the-ultimate-guide-to-pregnancy-insurance/>Pregnancy Coverage</a>