OHIP 153 day rule (cross posted to settlement)

[kateee]

Hi all,

I am just wondering about OHIP and the 153 day rule (must be present for 153 days in the first 6 months)... What do they count as a day? Like if I left on Friday and returned on Monday, do Friday and Monday count as days out of Ontario because I was out of the province for part of the day? Or does it just have to be full days?
I totally forgot about this rule and am panicking about vacations that we have taken/planned... I'm assuming they can pull the border records?

Any advice will be appreciated, thanks!

 

[truesmile]

I wouldn't worry about vacation time away. Six months in another country could be risky. That would be a lot of work to pull border records, and these are government employees no less.

 

[keesio]

Hi all,

I am just wondering about OHIP and the 153 day rule (must be present for 153 days in the first 6 months)... What do they count as a day? Like if I left on Friday and returned on Monday, do Friday and Monday count as days out of Ontario because I was out of the province for part of the day? Or does it just have to be full days?
I totally forgot about this rule and am panicking about vacations that we have taken/planned... I'm assuming they can pull the border records?

Any advice will be appreciated, thanks!

I asked this question awhile ago also and never got a response. So i did some digging and I believe that it is the same rules as PR (any time spent in Canada counts as a day). So in your example, only Saturday and Sunday would count as time outside Canada (2 days). Note that I am not 100% sure of this but I'm fairly certain. I figured if it is good enough for PR, it is good enough for OHIP.

 

[Alurra71]

This rule is mainly set into place for those Canadians who 'snow bird' in the lower US, or those who land here, grab OHIP and move off to another province.

For someone who just landed as a PR and does actually reside in Ontario going on vacation is not going to go against you. They don't do a 'day' count like CiC would for PR renewal to ensure you meet the criteria.

As long as you live/work/play in Ontario, going on vacation is not going to cause you any pains.