If you've searched Google for private medical insurance that covers expats in Canada then you are most likely for looking for established UK based health insurance providers that will cover your medical expenses in Canada.
Living as an expat in Canada you want to avoid any nasty unexpected medical costs. In some countries these can amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds for very serious conditions.
Our advice when shopping around for health insurance that covers expatriates living in Canada is to speak to a health insurance broker. Health insurance is very complex and if you want complete certainty that Canada is covered you should consult with a broker who can explain which policy providers will cover medical expenses for expatriates in Canada and which will not.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the largest by far is that you're using their industry experience at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than you so it costs you no extra to use their services.
- Do you reside in many different areas? Some will give you a cheaper premium than offers. A insurance broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance claim? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your insurance policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different insurance policies?
- You've lean't you're at risk of developing a certain medical condition and want to know which insurer offers the largest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you huge amounts of time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider on the market and ask if they provider cover for expats in Canada, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one health insurance broker which will know which policy providers on the market offer cover for expats in Canada and under what terms they do or don't cover it.
Canada Information
Canada has a large domestic and foreign tourism industry. The second largest country in the world, Canada's incredible geographical variety is a significant tourist attractor. Much of the country's tourism is centred in the following regions: Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver/Whistler, Niagara Falls, Vancouver Island, Canadian Rockies, British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, Churchill, Manitoba and the national capital region Ottawa. The large cities are known for their culture, diversity, as well as the many national parks and historic sites.
In 2012, over 16 million tourists arrived in Canada, bringing US$17.4 billion in international tourism receipts to the economy. Domestic and international tourism combined directly contributes 1% of Canada's total GDP and supports 309,000 jobs in the country.
There are 20 World Heritage sites in Canada, including one of the oldest, Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories (1978), and one of the newest, the Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta (2019). Of these 20 sites, 9 are Cultural Heritages and 10 are Natural Heritages. One (Pimachiowin Aki) is a combined site.
British Columbia is Canada's westernmost province and touches the Pacific Ocean. The winters in the coastal areas are relatively warm in comparison to the rest of Canada. British Columbia is divided into 6 regions:
British Columbia is Canada's most mountainous province and has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. Alpine skiing is a major draw for the province. The province has about 33 large ski resorts spread out from Vancouver Island to the Alberta border. Whistler, British Columbia, nestled in the rugged Coast Mountains, is consistently ranked as the #1 ski resort destination in North America and co-hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Vancouver, the largest Canadian metropolitan area west of Toronto, is one of Canada's most multi-cultural cities. There is a large community of people of Asian origin. Vancouver is a harbour city and provides beautiful landscapes of mountains and ocean.
Victoria, British Columbia, located on scenic Vancouver Island, is a major Canadian tourist destination attracting millions of visitors each year. Popular activities for tourists are whale watching, enjoying the busking in the inner harbour area and visiting world-famous Butchart Gardens.
Long Beach (Pacific Rim National Park) and the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet are popular tourist areas. Tofino, a town of only a few thousand, hosts more than one million visitors each year. Many new resorts are being built in the area to accommodate surfers, beach lovers, storm watchers and golfers.
Wine tours are common in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia's wine and orchard country. The Okanagan Valley area has some of the best beaches and warmest summer temperatures in Canada, as well as Canada's only hot desert around the town of Osoyoos. There are 53 golf courses and two major ski resorts in the valley.
Alberta is a province in Canada's western prairies next to the Rocky Mountains. Its two major cities are Calgary and Edmonton, the province's capital. Edmonton is well known for West Edmonton Mall, the largest shopping mall in North America, formerly the largest in the world. Edmonton is also known as Canada's festival city, with over 60 festivals happening year round. Edmonton is home to the area of Old Strathcona, a historical district with boutique shopping, music, arts, and many restaurants. Calgary is famous for the Calgary Stampede, the world's largest rodeo and one of the biggest open air events worldwide attracting up to 1.5 million visitors every year.
Another world-class attraction is the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, housing the largest collection of dinosaur fossils under one roof in the world. Alberta also contains significant natural scenery, including six of Canada's twenty UNESCO World heritage sites. These are Banff and Jasper National Parks, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. In the southeast, Alberta shares with Saskatchewan the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, a geographic region of importance both to Indigenous history and to the North-West Mounted Police.