PR relocating to Canada, possibly pregnant spouse on her visitor visa. What are our health insurance options?

[Bee1300]

I'm a PR holder currently working in US. Planning to permanently relocate to Canada on the first week of February.

My life is currently on a visitor visa.

We are planning on a child and my wife could possibly get pregnant in the next 3 months.
What are our options for her maternity health insurance?

Thanks.

 

[Buletruck]

I'm a PR holder currently working in US. Planning to permanently relocate to Canada on the first week of February.

My life is currently on a visitor visa.

We are planning on a child and my wife could possibly get pregnant in the next 3 months.
What are our options for her maternity health insurance?

Thanks.

Depends where you plan to live. And whether you plan to sponsor her.

 

[Bee1300]

Depends where you plan to live. And whether you plan to sponsor her.

Thanks for the reply.
We are inclining towards Ontario.

We're not pregnant yet but just inquiring on the possibility as of now.

 

[canuck78]

I'm a PR holder currently working in US. Planning to permanently relocate to Canada on the first week of February.

My life is currently on a visitor visa.

We are planning on a child and my wife could possibly get pregnant in the next 3 months.
What are our options for her maternity health insurance?

Thanks.

For a variety of reasons this is not a great idea. In terms of health coverage a lot depends on what province you will be moving to and whether there is a chance you may not settle in that province and could move again in the next 6 months. Even some emergency travel insurance policies may not cover up to delivery. The timing of the policy and when your wife gets pregnant may also lead to minimal coverage. It is fairly normal for it to take multiple months, if not much longer, to get pregnant. Your spouse will also not qualify for maternity leave benefits until she has worked a certain amount of time. The first few months of pregnancy can often make you feel awful and in some more extreme cases make you so sick you need to be hospitalized or require significant medical intervention. Miscarriage is also incredibly common. Moving, trying to secure a place to live and set it up, navigating a new city, doing all the administrative work that comes with moving especially to a new country, etc. is hard enough but being pregnant at the same time makes things even harder. Your wife only appears to have a TRV that doesn’t even guarantee entry to Canada or entry for a certain period of time. Hopefully you have started the sponsorship process and will have AOR at that point. Showing that your sponsorship application is in progress would certainly be helpful since it is unclear where your spouse lives, what her citizenship is, whether she has ties to her home country, etc. Getting a job while pregnant is also much harder. If you have a job that provides extended benefits your spouse will need have have provincial health coverage to access these benefits. Canada has more like a 70% Medicare model so things like prescription medication for example are not covered under many provincial healthcare programs. Having coverage for a private postpartum recovery room can be one of the benefits some plans provide. As a partner if you are starting a new job in Canada or even transferring you may start with minimal sick days or holiday time initially that you will accumulate over time. You may want/need to take time off. All things to consider that newcomers or 1st time parents may not tho k of. Would suggest speaking to newcomers who arrived pregnant or who got pregnant during sponsorship. Many did not anticipate many of the hurdles they encountered.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for the reply.
We are inclining towards Ontario.

We're not pregnant yet but just inquiring on the possibility as of now.

Not knowing where you plan on settling for around the first year is already an issue. To qualify for provincial health coverage there are residency requirements that are set by each province. In essence a province wants to ensure you are tax residents of that province before they spend money on your healthcare. If you aren’t employed for at least 6 months I would not be getting pregnant in this economy. Most families in Canada require 2 incomes and your spouse will both need to wait until she qualifies for a WP, would then need to work enough hours to qualify for maternity leave payments and would need to secure a job in a very tough economy which is much harder if pregnant.

 

[Bee1300]

Not knowing where you plan on settling for around the first year is already an issue. To qualify for provincial health coverage there are residency requirements that are set by each province. In essence a province wants to ensure you are tax residents of that province before they spend money on your healthcare. If you aren’t employed for at least 6 months I would not be getting pregnant in this economy. Most families in Canada require 2 incomes and your spouse will both need to wait until she qualifies for a WP, would then need to work enough hours to qualify for maternity leave payments and would need to secure a job in a very tough economy which is much harder if pregnant.

Thanks for the advice,
I would be willing to wait to make my move, but the next month will be the time that would limit my PR validity to the 730 days, I'm just afraid that I might lose my PR if I don't do the relocation.

Hence the reason we are preparing for such an abrupt move.

I'm aware the economy is bad, but, speaking to recruiters, I've been getting good responses on my resume (worked with multiple financial institutions over the last 5 years).

 

[Naturgrl]

Thanks for the advice,
I would be willing to wait to make my move, but the next month will be the time that would limit my PR validity to the 730 days, I'm just afraid that I might lose my PR if I don't do the relocation.

Hence the reason we are preparing for such an abrupt move.

I'm aware the economy is bad, but, speaking to recruiters, I've been getting good responses on my resume (worked with multiple financial institutions over the last 5 years).

Since she has an approved visitor visa then she is entering as a visitor and not eligible for provincial healthcare. You need to be in Canada to start the sponsorship process. Starting the process doesn't give her healthcare either so don't plan on a pregnancy unless you can afford it. She needs private insurance.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for the advice,
I would be willing to wait to make my move, but the next month will be the time that would limit my PR validity to the 730 days, I'm just afraid that I might lose my PR if I don't do the relocation.

Hence the reason we are preparing for such an abrupt move.

I'm aware the economy is bad, but, speaking to recruiters, I've been getting good responses on my resume (worked with multiple financial institutions over the last 5 years).

Recruiters often don’t provide an accurate picture of the job market. Most financial institutions are downsizing not hiring. Unless you can transfer to Canada or have a very rare skillset finding employment will be difficult.

 

[YVR123]

Also if you planned to sponsor your wife, she cannot get all medical exams done when the request comes if she's pregnant. (X-ray)
And that will delay the PR sponsorship application. (thus her provincial health coverage)
So you may have to delay your family planning.