How to Get a Health Card in Nunavut

A Nunavut health care card proves you are enrolled in the Nunavut Health Care Plan, and the Government of Nunavut states the card must be shown at hospitals, health centres, nursing stations, public health offices, and doctors' offices in and out of Nunavut to cover the costs of health services. This guide covers registration mechanics only: who qualifies, when coverage starts, what to send, and where to send it. It gives no health advice and no advice about which services you should seek. All eligibility and process wording below comes from the Government of Nunavut page on applying for health care and the Government of Nunavut page about the Nunavut Health Care Plan.

Step 1: Check whether you qualify

The Nunavut Health Care Plan is offered by the Government of Nunavut following the Canada Health Act, and is managed by the Nunavut Health Insurance Programs Office in Rankin Inlet. You are eligible if you are one of the following:

• a permanent resident of Nunavut — a person who has Nunavut as their primary place of residence
• a person holding an employment or student visa valid for one year or more, where the visa must have a Nunavut address

You are not eligible if you are one of the following:

• a tourist or visitor to Nunavut
• a temporary worker on an employment contract for less than one year
• a student whose permanent residence is a province or territory other than Nunavut
• a person holding an employment or student visa valid for less than one year
• a person holding an employment or student visa that does not have a Nunavut address
• an inmate of a federal penitentiary

The application form adds further exclusions: tourists, transients, and visitors; temporary, term, and seasonal positions of less than 12 consecutive months; members of the Canadian Armed Forces and NATO Forces; inmates of a federal penitentiary; Canadian students moving to Nunavut to enrol in an educational institute in Nunavut; students from outside Canada holding a visa of less than 12 months; certified refugees or refugee claimants; individuals holding an employment visa of less than 12 months; and individuals holding a Minister's Permit, though exceptions may apply for a Minister's Permit. If you are unsure whether you qualify, contact the Health Insurance Programs Office before you apply.

Step 2: Know your coverage start date

Health coverage may become effective on the first day of the third month, providing you meet all eligibility requirements. In other words, there is a waiting period of about three months from arrival before Nunavut coverage begins, so apply as soon as you arrive and keep your previous province or territory's coverage in place during the wait. Confirm your own start date with the Health Insurance Programs Office, because the effective date depends on meeting all eligibility requirements.

If one spouse moves to Nunavut in advance of the rest of the family on a permanent move, the spouse who moved is looked on as temporarily absent from the home province until the rest of the family arrives, without exceeding a period of twelve months. If a dependant child remains in the home province for educational purposes while both parents have moved to Nunavut, the dependant's residence for health insurance purposes goes with the parents' residence, and documentation must be provided that validates the claim that the dependant is attending an educational facility.

Step 3: Get the application form

To register for the Nunavut Health Care Plan, fill out an Application for Nunavut Health Care Coverage form. You can download the form from the Government of Nunavut page on applying for health care. Application forms are also available at all community health centres and nursing stations in Nunavut, the Qikiqtani General Hospital in Iqaluit, and at the Health Insurance Programs Office in Rankin Inlet.

For a newborn baby, download the separate Application for Newborn form, print and fill it out, and mail it to the address below. If the applicant is under 19 years of age, the form must be signed by a parent or legal guardian.

Step 4: Attach the supporting documents

For someone new to Nunavut, the steps on the Government of Nunavut page are:

1. Print and fill out your application.
2. Provide two clear copies of identification: a birth certificate, a valid passport, or valid immigration documents, which are mandatory, plus one secondary document — a previous health care card, an employment ID, or a valid driver's licence. For further information, contact nhip@gov.nu.ca or 1-800-661-0833.
3. Provide a proof of residency document that confirms your intention to make Nunavut your main place of residence for over 12 months and that you are not a temporary or rotational worker, such as a letter from your employer or a job contract indicating the term.
4. Email your form along with clear copies of all necessary documents to nhip@gov.nu.ca, or mail your form along with the necessary documents to the address below.

The application form itself states the document rules in more detail. Applicants moving to Nunavut from within Canada must attach a clear copy of a birth certificate and a health care card from the province or territory they are currently registered in, and may also be requested to provide additional information such as an employment contract or proof of residency documents. Applicants moving to Nunavut from outside Canada must attach a copy of official immigration documents; readable photocopies of originals will be accepted. If you do not have Canadian citizenship, immigration documents are required when applying, and other documentation may be requested for verification purposes. Good quality photocopies are accepted.

If you indicate Inuit or Registered Indian ethnicity on the form, provide the supporting documents: in the case of Inuit, a Beneficiary Card, and in the case of Registered Indians, a DIAND card. If these documents cannot be provided, you will be registered as non-Aboriginal until the Registrations Department has been notified. Failure to register as Inuit or Registered Indian may result in the loss of Non-Insured Health Benefits, so it is important to provide the necessary documentation with the application.

It is important that the Health Care Registrations Department be notified of any changes to name, ethnicity, or address, including temporary residency outside of Nunavut. A Request for Change form may be obtained from a health centre, public health office, or hospital located in Nunavut.

Step 5: Send the form and wait for the card

Mail or email completed forms to the Nunavut Health Insurance Programs Office, Department of Health, Box 889, Rankin Inlet, NU, X0C 0G0. Phone: (867) 645-8001. Fax: (867) 645-8092. Toll free: 1-800-661-0833. Email: nhip@gov.nu.ca. Faxed applications are not accepted; mail or email your application.

The Nunavut Health Insurance Programs Office will let you know if you are eligible for the Nunavut Health Care Plan. Every person enrolled in the Nunavut Health Care Plan is given a Health Care Card with their own unique nine-digit number. The card confirms that the holder is enrolled in the Nunavut Health Care Plan. Carry your health care card with you at all times, and show it at hospitals, health centres, nursing stations, public health offices, and doctors' offices in and out of Nunavut. Nunavummiut who do not show the card at health facilities out of territory may have to pay for health care services up front or be invoiced; card holders who pay up front or are invoiced can apply for repayment from the Health Insurance Programs Office at the address above.

If you have lost your card or did not receive your card in the mail, you may request a replacement card using the Request for Change form. Failure to renew your health care will result in the loss of health care coverage, and you may be required to pay for services. If you have been living elsewhere and are returning to Nunavut, complete a new Application for Nunavut Health Care Coverage form. If you have made a permanent move from Nunavut, apply for that province or territory's health care coverage within three months of arrival.

Step 6: What the plan covers, and what it does not

The Nunavut Health Care Plan covers the costs of certain doctor and hospital services.

Physician services covered include diagnosis and treatment of illness and injury, surgery including anaesthetic services and surgical assistance where necessary, and obstetrical care including prenatal and postnatal care. Limitations and restrictions may apply. Physician services not covered include yearly physicals between the ages of 10 and 65, prescription drugs, physical examinations at the request of a third party for preschool or insurance medicals, food handlers or driver's licence examinations, immigration requirements, obtaining a passport, or pre-employment requirements, optometric services, dental services other than specific procedures related to jaw injury or disease, the services of chiropractors, naturopaths, podiatrists, osteopaths, and acupuncture treatments, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and psychology services not related to a hospital admission, and any service to which a resident is entitled under legislation such as the Workers' Compensation Act, the Public Health Act, or treatments as a result of service in the Canadian Forces.

Hospital services covered include accommodation and meals at the standard ward level, necessary nursing services, laboratory, x-ray, and diagnostic procedures and interpretation, drugs, biologicals, and related preparations when administered in the hospital, use of the operating room, case room, and anaesthetic facilities required for diagnosis and treatment including necessary equipment and supplies, and radiotherapy treatment, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy when provided as an outpatient. Hospital services not covered include services that are not medically required such as cosmetic surgery, services considered experimental, ambulance charges except inter-hospital transfers, dental services other than specific procedures related to jaw injury or disease, alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and medical examinations at the request of a third party.

Medical travel is a separate benefit. If a doctor, nurse, dentist, or other health care professional tells you that you have to leave your home community for medical treatment, you may be entitled to medical travel benefits. The Nunavut Health Care Plan will pay your airfare less a $250 round trip deductible, also called a co-payment, from your home community to the nearest centre where treatment is available.

What this guide could not verify

The opened Government of Nunavut pages state no application fee, so this guide states no fee figure. They state no card delivery or processing time, so no arrival time is claimed here; a four-to-six-week figure appears on non-official sites and was not used. They state no card validity period or renewal interval, although the change form warns that failure to renew your health care will result in the loss of coverage, so no validity or renewal figure is stated here. Confirm the fee position, the expected card arrival time, and the renewal interval with the Health Insurance Programs Office at 1-800-661-0833.

Related guides:

• How to Start Getting Provincial Health Coverage as a Newcomer to Canada — the province-by-province coverage picture for newcomers, including the territories.
• How to Get an Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Card in Alberta — the Alberta health card application, for comparison with the Nunavut process.
• How to Get an MSI Health Card in Nova Scotia — the Nova Scotia health card application, for comparison with the Nunavut process.
• How to Start Getting a Birth Certificate in Canada — the registration record that supports the identification documents for your application.

Sources

• Government of Nunavut, Applying for Health Care — the Application for Nunavut Health Care Coverage form, where forms are available, the four steps for people new to Nunavut, the newborn form, the mailing and email address, and the phone numbers.
• Government of Nunavut, About the Nunavut Health Care Plan — eligibility and ineligibility, the nine-digit health care card, showing the card in and out of Nunavut, covered and not-covered physician and hospital services, and the $250 round trip medical travel deductible.
• Government of Nunavut, Application for Nunavut Health Care Coverage — the Government of Nunavut application form, hosted copy: documents for applicants moving from within Canada and from outside Canada, the ineligibility list, the ethnicity verification rules, families not moving together, the first-day-of-the-third-month effective date, and the no-fax rule.
• Government of Nunavut, Annual Report on the Operation of the Medical Care Plan 2014–2015 — coverage generally begins the first day of the third month after arrival in the territory.
• Government of Nunavut, Request for Change — Nunavut Health Care Plan — replacement cards for lost or undelivered cards, the renewal warning, and applying for new coverage within three months of a permanent move from Nunavut.