Hi,

I was hoping that someone could clarify something for me

I was granted PR and crossed the border into BC in November. They tell you to apply for MSP as soon as you arrive but also request a copy of your PR card within your MSP enrollment application, which took until late January to arrive. I have finally managed to send off my application. I did get Pacific Blue Cross 'Travel Insurance for newcomers to Canada' as advised. This runs out in 3 days but I still have UK travel insurance until March 20th as I found out too late I couldn't cancel it. Will the application that I just sent for MSP take another 2-3 months to process so therefore I will not covered which would mean I need to extend either my Blue cross or UK insurance OR as I will have been a resident for 3 months and have sent the application to BC Health will I be covered with them from now?

Any info will be appreciated. Thanks

MSP will generally retro active coverage back to the date you became eligible even if you apply after.

I applied late when I moved back to BC last year, and I got my card a month after I was eligible, and the effective date was the 1st of the month I became eligible, and not when they actually processed and sent the card.

But its not guaranteed, so its best to contact MSP and inquire with them once its been 1-2 weeks since you mailed your application to give them time to receive and open it. Generally they are pretty quick at processing in my experience, especially if your already eligible.

You UK travel insurance is likely to be invalid if you read the T&Cs properly.

On The WelcomeBC webiste, this is what it says about MSP for new residents:

How do I register for MSP?

You should register for medical insurance as soon as you arrive in B.C. All residents must register with the Medical Services Plan (MSP). Once you apply, it may take up to three months before you can access MSP, so you should buy private medical insurance for that time. If you do not have medical insurance, you must pay the doctor or hospital yourself, which can be expensive.

To learn more and register for MSP, visit the Ministry of Health website or call Health Insurance BC at 1-800- 663-7100.If you need help filling out the forms, a settlement services worker or ServiceBC office can help you with registration.


Note the bit about '3 months'.

Ours took just over 2 months (although that may have been partly due to my employer carefully removing the copies of our Work Permits from the forms and not sending them to BC Health...).

The cards turned up mid-January and the letter they came with stated they were valid from 1st January.

Go into a service BC office and ask this question or phone MSP, they are they are only ones who can tell you about your application, we can only speculate. To qulify for MSP it is the balance of the month you arrive plus 2 additional months. Your immigration documents would have sufficed to register.

Your UK travel insurance would likely have terminated once you arrived in Canada.

If you crossed border to get PR in Nov the. your MSP should be valid from 1st Feb. As that's the balance of the month plus 2 months. You can call them and they should be able to tell you for sure

I just spoke to them yesterday in BC. I was told that I would not be covered by MSP until 1st May. 2 months plus the rest of Feb. I arrived last week.