Non-Insured Walk-in Clinic – Access Alliance (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you have no health insurance in Canada? ›

Canadian residents without valid provincial or federal health insurance plan, considered uninsured residents of Canada, and non-residents of Canada are responsible for all Hospital fees. Hospital fees are in addition to attending physician fees as billed by the physician.

Under Canada's universal healthcare system, basic necessary medical services are covered when you present your valid health card. While walk-ins are generally free, you might be charged a fee if you don't live in that province or territory.

The Non-Insured Walk-in Clinic (NIWIC) offers confidential primary care services to people who do not have health insurance.

Canadians (and tourists!) without a family doctor have two options—walk-in clinics or hospitals.

Do I Need Travel Insurance for Canada? There are no requirements for U.S. citizens to have travel insurance coverage as a condition of entry to Canada. However, most Canadian hospitals do not accept U.S. health insurance or Medicare.

It's generally never a good idea to skip health insurance coverage due the financial risk of ending up with whopping medical bills.

An urgent care or walk in clinic will charge from $50 to $90 for an office visit for a non resident in Canada. This is what you would do in order to get a prescription for buying your meds in Canada.

Same as in the USA. They are private businesses and they get their funding by the doctors being paid a fee for each patient they see with a medical issue covered by the medical insurance plan of the province or territory where they are located.

'We lose dollar for dollar' The fee-for-service plan, Glazier explained, is still the dominant financial plan in Ontario. If a patient goes to a walk-in clinic instead of their physician, their doctor will not get financially penalized. But under the FHO plan, a family physician can get penalized.

Foreigners will receive emergency care, but non-urgent medical treatment won't be covered. To make sure you won't have to pay for all of your medical expenses, you should sign up for an international health insurance plan.

Can an American go to the doctor in Canada? ›

They can, yes, if they can find one to take them. But they'll need to pay cash or credit (typically in advance) for whatever they want done. On the plus side, it'll likely be 1/3 or less of the cost of the bloated procedures in the US. Yes, an American can visit a Canadian doctor.

If I get sick or have an accident while visiting Canada, will the Government of Canada pay for my medical treatment? Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. You should get health insurance to cover any medical costs before you come to Canada.

The government also advises visitors to purchase health insurance to cover any emergency medical expenses before they enter the country. Ultimately, medical treatment in Canada for foreigners is done at the expense of the visitor – unless, of course, the visitor has travel insurance that covers it.

The national wait time average across Canada in 2023 was 68 minutes, a 31 minute increase from 2022 when it was 37 minutes.

Patients that are not covered by Canadian provincial health plans are expected to pay their hospital bills directly since the Hospital does not have the resources to provide care free of charge. The care that is being provided to you is costly and requires payment at the time the care is provided.

Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. You should get health insurance to cover any medical costs before you come to Canada.

In Canada, there is no federal law mandating that individuals have health insurance. However, some provinces and territories require residents to have health insurance coverage in order to access publicly funded healthcare services.

All citizens and permanent residents in Canada have free access to medically necessary services through a doctor or hospital. Taxes fund this system, called Medicare, and while it's often referred to as “universal healthcare,” there's not actually one single national health insurance plan.