How to Get a Health Card in Nunavut
How to apply for a Nunavut health care card: who qualifies, the three-month wait, the form and documents, and where to send it.
How to Get a Health Card in Newfoundland and Labrador
How to apply for a Newfoundland and Labrador MCP health card: who can apply, the application form, the documents to attach, and where to send it.
Applies in: Newfoundland and Labrador
A Newfoundland and Labrador health card is your Medical Care Plan (MCP) card, issued by the province's Department of Health and Community Services. It is the card you present each time you require medical services. This guide covers registration mechanics only: who can apply, the form, the documents, and where to send it. It gives no health advice and no advice about which services you should seek. All application wording below comes from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Care Plan application form.
Step 1: Check that MCP is for you
MCP is for people who live in Newfoundland and Labrador. The application form asks when you arrived in the province, why you moved (work, study, or another reason), how long you intend to stay, and whether all your dependants moved with you, and you sign a declaration that everyone listed on the form is a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The form lists the people who are not eligible for MCP coverage:
- tourists, transients, and visitors
- members of the RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces, or NATO Forces
- inmates of federal prisons
- certified refugees or refugee claimants
If you fall into one of those groups, do not apply for MCP; check what coverage applies to you through your employer, the federal government, or private insurance instead.
Step 2: Complete the application form
If you are applying for MCP coverage for the first time, complete the Application for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Care Coverage. If you are only applying for coverage for a newborn or adopted child, complete the Newborn/Adopted Child Registration form instead. The form asks for your arrival date, your reason for moving, how long you intend to stay, your mailing address, your marital status, and the name, birth date, and previous provincial health insurance number of every person registering.
MCP covers medically necessary physician services. Memorial University's guidance for international students, which points to the official MCP page, lists what that includes: doctor's visits, surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, pre- and post-operative care, maternal care, radiology services, and certain in-hospital dental surgeries, and notes that prescription drugs are among the costs MCP does not cover. If a service matters to you, confirm its coverage with MCP before you rely on it.
Step 3: Attach the proof the form asks for
What you attach depends on where you moved from.
If you moved to Newfoundland and Labrador from another part of Canada, attach a copy of one of the following as proof of Canadian citizenship:
- Social Insurance card
- unexpired Canadian passport
- Canadian birth certificate
- official federal government identity card or federal government document containing your Social Insurance Number and name
If you moved from outside Canada, attach a copy of official immigration documents for each person being registered. The form notes that other documents may be requested to verify identity or eligibility, and points you to the MCP information brochures or an MCP office for more detail. Original documents or good quality photocopies are acceptable, and originals are returned after processing.
Step 4: Send the application to MCP
Submit the completed form with your documents by mail or fax, or bring it to one of the MCP offices:
- St. John's office: Medical Care Plan, Belvedere Building, 57 Margaret's Place, P.O. Box 8700, St. John's, NL A1B 4J6. Telephone (709) 758-1600, toll-free 1-866-449-4459, facsimile (709) 758-1694.
- Grand Falls-Windsor office: Medical Care Plan, 22 High Street, P.O. Box 5000, Grand Falls-Windsor, NL A2A 2Y4. Telephone (709) 292-4000, toll-free 1-800-563-1557, facsimile (709) 292-4052.
Apply immediately upon arrival. If you moved from another province or territory, your previous plan covers you for the remainder of the month you arrived, plus two additional months, and applying right away leaves enough time for a smooth change in coverage from your previous plan to MCP.
Step 5: Use the card, and tell MCP about changes
If you are accepted for coverage, each person listed on the application receives an MCP identity number and card. Keep the card with you at all times and present it each time you require medical services. A child's card should be entrusted to an adult for safekeeping. There are no charges or fees for MCP cards.
Contact MCP if your card becomes lost, stolen, damaged, or destroyed. Card replacement forms are also available at doctors' offices and hospitals throughout the province. It is important that you notify MCP of changes to your name, address, or residency status.
What this guide could not verify
The official application form states no processing or card delivery time, no card validity or renewal period, and no work-permit or study-permit duration rule, so this guide states none of those figures. Third-party pages give conflicting processing times and quote validity periods and permit-duration rules that the official form does not state, so none of them are repeated here. Confirm the expected arrival time for your card, the renewal period, and any permit-duration condition with an MCP office when you apply, and check the current MCP page before you rely on a timeline.
Related guides:
- How to Start Getting Provincial Health Coverage as a Newcomer to Canada — the province-by-province coverage picture for newcomers, including Newfoundland and Labrador.
- How to Get an MSI Health Card in Nova Scotia — the sibling Atlantic-province health card application.
- How to Start Getting a Social Insurance Number as a Newcomer to Canada — the Social Insurance Number record that can serve as proof of Canadian citizenship for MCP.
- How to Start Getting a Birth Certificate in Canada — the birth certificate that can serve as proof of Canadian citizenship for MCP.
Getting a Newfoundland and Labrador MCP health card, in five steps
- Check that MCP is for youYou live in Newfoundland and Labrador and are a resident of the province; tourists, visitors, RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces and NATO Forces members, federal prison inmates, and certified refugees or refugee claimants are not eligible
- Complete the application formThe Application for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Care Coverage, for first-time applicants; a newborn or adopted child uses the Newborn/Adopted Child Registration form instead
- Attach the proof the form asks forProof of Canadian citizenship if you moved from another part of Canada, or official immigration documents if you moved from outside Canada; originals or good quality photocopies are accepted
- Send it by mail or fax, or bring it to an MCP officeSt. John's or Grand Falls-Windsor MCP office; apply immediately upon arrival so coverage changes over smoothly from your previous plan
- Keep the card and tell MCP about changesEach accepted person receives an MCP identity number and card to present at every medical visit; there are no charges or fees for MCP cards, and you must notify MCP of changes to your name, address, or residency status
Questions people ask
Is there a fee for a Newfoundland and Labrador MCP health card?
No. The Medical Care Plan application form states there are no charges or fees for MCP cards.
Can I apply for MCP online?
The application form gives three ways to submit: mail it, fax it, or bring it to one of the MCP offices in St. John's or Grand Falls-Windsor. The form names no online application route, so do not assume one exists; check the current MCP page before you rely on a submission method.
What documents do I attach if I moved from another Canadian province?
Attach a copy of one of the following as proof of Canadian citizenship: a Social Insurance card, an unexpired Canadian passport, a Canadian birth certificate, or an official federal government identity card or document containing your Social Insurance Number and name. Original documents or good quality photocopies are acceptable, and originals are returned after processing.
What documents do I attach if I moved from outside Canada?
Attach a copy of official immigration documents for each person being registered. The form notes that other documents may be requested to verify identity or eligibility, so check with an MCP office if you are unsure what else you need.
Is there a waiting period for MCP coverage?
There is no separate MCP waiting period stated on the form. If you move from another province or territory, your previous plan covers you for the remainder of the month you arrived plus two additional months, and the form tells you to apply for MCP immediately upon arrival so the changeover is smooth.
What do I do if my MCP card is lost, stolen, or damaged?
Contact MCP. The application form states that card replacement forms are also available at doctors' offices and hospitals throughout the province.
Sources
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Medical Care Plan (MCP) — the Application for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Care Coverage: first-time and newborn or adopted-child forms, the citizenship and immigration documents to attach, the ineligible applicants, the waiting-period arrangement with a previous plan, the MCP identity number and card, no charges or fees for MCP cards, the St. John's and Grand Falls-Windsor office addresses and phone numbers, and the duty to notify MCP of changes.
- Memorial University of Newfoundland, Frequently Asked Questions (Internationalization Office) — what MCP covers, including doctor's visits, surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, pre- and post-operative care, maternal care, and radiology services, and that prescription drugs are among the costs it does not cover.
- Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Forms and Applications — Health and Community Services — the Medical Care Plan forms, including the Application for Newfoundland and Labrador Health Care Coverage and the Newborn/Adopted Child Registration form.