How to Get a Health Card in the Northwest Territories

A Northwest Territories health care card proves you are covered by the NWT Health Care Plan, and the territory states that anyone with a valid card can go to a hospital, health centre, or medical clinic for treatment without paying for medically necessary health services. This guide covers registration mechanics only: who qualifies, when coverage starts, what to send, and what happens after. 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 the Northwest Territories page on general information for residents.

Step 1: Check whether you qualify

All permanent NWT residents must apply for health care coverage. You are eligible if:

• you are lawfully entitled to be or remain in Canada, and
• you make your home in the NWT and are ordinarily present there. Ordinarily present means you are physically present in the NWT at least 153 days during each calendar year.

You must be 19 years of age or older to apply. The Health Services Administration Office may accept your application if you are at least 16 and can show that you live permanently in the NWT and live on your own.

Do not apply if you are a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, an inmate of a federal penitentiary, a tourist, a transient, or a visitor. You also do not need to apply if you came to the NWT looking for work or were offered a short-term job for under 12 months and think you will probably go back to your home province or territory within the year. In that case your home province or territory health care card will be accepted at a hospital, health centre, or doctor's office in the NWT, and you will not have to pay up front for the health services you need. Check with your employer whether you have medical travel benefits; if you do not, the territory recommends travel insurance to cover emergency medical travel while you are in the NWT.

Step 2: Know your coverage start date

If you moved to the NWT from elsewhere in Canada, you will become eligible for the NWT Health Care Plan on the first day of the third month immediately following the month you became a resident of the NWT. For example, if you arrive on July 4, you will become eligible on October 1. During the waiting period, the province or territory you moved from will continue to provide coverage, and agreements between the provinces and territories mean you do not have to pay out of pocket for medically necessary services during the wait. Check with your employer about medical travel benefits; if you have none, the territory recommends travel insurance to cover emergency medical travel before your NWT coverage takes effect.

There are exceptions. If you come to the NWT but your spouse and dependants stay in your home province or territory, your home province or territory will continue to cover your health care until your family joins you, for up to one year. If a person moves to the NWT before the rest of the family, they are considered temporarily absent from the home province or territory for up to one year or until the rest of the family follows, and the effective date of NWT coverage starts three months after the rest of the family moves permanently to the NWT. If you have questions about your date of eligibility, contact the Health Services Administration Office.

Military families are a separate case: the 90-day wait period for military families to receive their NWT health care card has been waived so they can access NWT health care coverage on entry. Apply as soon as possible so you are covered under the NWT Health Care Plan.

If you are a citizen of another country and intend to make the NWT your home, provide a copy of a valid immigration document issued by Immigration Canada. If you are a returning Canadian, provide proof of citizenship such as a Canadian birth certificate or valid Canadian passport. If you are in Canada on a work permit, study permit, or another immigration document, contact the Health Services Administration Office.

Step 3: Complete the application form

Apply by completing and submitting an NWT Application for Health Care form. Forms are also available at hospitals, health clinics, and health centres. Signed applications can be faxed, scanned and emailed, or mailed to the Health Services Administration Office. You can apply for your own coverage and for your spouse or partner and dependants on one application form; complete all required information for every member of the family, and make sure the names on the supporting documentation match the names on the application form.

For a newborn, fill out the NWT Application for Health Care – Newborn form, also available at hospitals, health clinics, and health centres, and send it the same way. If your baby is adopted, include a copy of the document showing the adoption is final; your baby will be registered with the birth mother's last name until that document can be provided.

If you are a NWT resident and have not yet applied or need help, contact the Health Services Administration Office at 1-800-661-0830.

Step 4: Attach the supporting documents

Include one of the following with your completed application form to prove your legal right to be in Canada:

• a copy of your Canadian birth certificate
• a copy of your valid Canadian passport
• a copy of your Certificate of Canadian Citizenship
• a copy of your Status Card issued by the Department of Indigenous Services Canada
• a copy of appropriate documentation from Immigration Canada, such as a valid work permit, study permit, or permanent resident document, showing an NWT address

Your name on the supporting documentation should be the same as your name on the application form.

Then provide copies of two valid documents from the following list to prove you live in the NWT. The documents must show your name and current home address:

• signed mortgage, rental, or lease agreement
• rent receipt
• letter from a private or government landlord
• one utility bill, for example cable, water, gas, oil, or power — cell phone bills are not a recognized document
• property tax form
• Revenue Canada form, such as an NWT Income Tax Return — black out the income information
• proof of employment, for example a letter from your employer or a pay stub
• other documents issued by government, including but not limited to a Child Tax Benefit statement, Employment Insurance Benefit statement, or Canada Pension Plan statement — black out income information — but driver's licences and government IDs are excluded from this list
• statements issued by a bank, trust company, or credit union (RRSP) — void cheques and stamped bank slips with account information are not recognized documents
• insurance policies, such as home or auto

If you moved to the NWT and intend to stay here for more than a year but cannot get two documents from this list, contact the Health Services Administration Office at 1-800-661-0830.

If you stated on your application form that you are First Nations, Inuvialuit, Inuit, or Métis, provide the relevant documentation: a copy of a letter or status card (front and back) issued from Indigenous Services Canada, a letter from the appropriate Canadian Inuvialuit or Inuit Registrar, or a copy of your Métis card (front and back) or a letter from a Métis Association or a Métis Local in Canada or the NWT. Note that to be eligible for the Métis Health Benefits program, you must apply separately.

Step 5: Wait for the card, then keep your details current

When your application has been approved, you will receive an NWT Health Care Card in the mail. Considering processing and mailing time, it takes about six weeks from the time of application for your health care card to reach you. If you do not receive your card in the mail and have not heard from the Health Services Administration Office, contact them. If you tell staff at a hospital, health centre, or doctor's clinic that you have applied but have not received your card yet, staff can check whether you are registered.

Your NWT Health Care Card is valid for three years and will expire on your birthdate; the expiry date is on the bottom right hand corner of the card. Every three years, cards are renewed, but renewal does not happen automatically. You will be contacted by mail and asked to submit a Health Care Card Renewal Form to renew your card. A card cannot be renewed unless a completed renewal form has been received. If your card has expired by more than one year, you will be asked to submit a new Application for Health Care and include proof that you live in the NWT. If you sent in your renewal form but have not received your new card in the mail, staff will be able to check that your registration has been updated if you need services at an NWT hospital or health centre.

It is important that the information on your NWT Health Care registration is correct and up to date. If your name, address, Indigenous status, or immigration status changes, notify the Health Services Administration Office immediately to reduce the chances of your coverage being interrupted. Use the Notification of Change or Update Application Form, also available at hospitals, health clinics, and health centres, or contact the office if you cannot obtain a form.

If you lose or damage your NWT Health Care Card, contact the Health Services Administration Office and request a new card immediately. You do not need to fill out a form. Once your identity is verified, the office will send you a new card in the mail.

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

The NWT Health Care Plan covers basic hospital and medical treatment. Anyone with a valid NWT Health Care Card can go to a hospital, health centre, or medical clinic for treatment and will not have to pay for medically necessary health services. There are some services provided by health professionals that are not covered under the plan.

The plan does not provide coverage for extended health benefits like medicine from the drugstore, eyeglasses, dental services, or medical supplies. You may be eligible for extended health benefits through your employer, through Government of the Northwest Territories Extended Health Benefits programs such as the Seniors Program, the Specified Disease Conditions Program, and the Métis Health Benefit Program, or through the federal Non-Insured Health Benefits Program for First Nations and Inuit. If you are not eligible for these programs, private insurance companies offer coverage for extended health benefit services.

Travel is a gap to plan for. For residents travelling outside of Canada, the cost of medically necessary services needed for an emergency or sudden illness will be reimbursed at NWT rates only, in Canadian funds; you will be responsible for paying the difference between the full amount charged and the amount reimbursed, and the difference may be considerable, so the territory recommends travel insurance when travelling outside of Canada. For residents travelling outside of the NWT but within Canada, the cost of medically necessary services you receive from a doctor or hospital in Canada will be covered, but things like ground ambulance or medevacs are not covered, so travel insurance is recommended when travelling outside of the NWT.

If you plan to be out of the NWT for more than 90 days at a time, notify the Health Services Administration Office by providing a completed Temporary Absence Form, with supporting documents depending on your reason for being away: an out-of-territory student provides documentation showing full-time enrolment at a post-secondary school outside the NWT, a high performance athlete provides documentation of a grant from the NWT High Performance Athlete Program and a letter from the national sporting organization or a certified coach, and a snowbird provides a copy of the most recent income tax form with financial information blacked out and a statutory declaration affirming NWT residency.

When you move out of the NWT to live permanently somewhere else in Canada, you will continue to be covered by the NWT Health Care Plan for medically necessary health services for three months after the day you left the NWT. It is your responsibility to register in your new province or territory within 30 days of arrival so that your health care coverage continues uninterrupted. If you are moving outside of Canada, your coverage ends on the date of your departure from the NWT; notify the Health Services Administration Office when you move from the NWT permanently.

Step 7: If your application or a service is denied

If your application for an NWT Health Care Card was denied, or if coverage for a health service was denied and you want an explanation or have any questions about a decision, contact the Health Services Administration Office. If you would still like to appeal a decision, contact Health Care Card Appeal, Department of Health and Social Services, Government of the Northwest Territories, P.O. Box 1320, Yellowknife, NT X1A 2L9, by email at healthcarecardappeal@gov.nt.ca.

If you need help and do not know where to turn, the Office of Client Experience has information on NWT health and social services offered system-wide and provides assistance, including resolving concerns, helping with application processes, and helping you find forms such as the health care card application. The Office of Client Experience cannot overturn decisions. Reach it toll-free at 1-855-846-9601 or by email at HSS_Clientexperience@gov.nt.ca.

What this guide could not verify

The opened Government of the Northwest Territories page states no application fee and no renewal fee, so this guide states no fee figure; confirm the fee position, if any, with the Health Services Administration Office before you apply. The page also states no itemized list of the health-professional services that are not covered, so no specific service is named here as excluded beyond the extended health benefits listed above. The page states no processing-time figure separate from the about-six-weeks delivery figure, so no separate processing time is claimed here.

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 a Manitoba Health Card in Manitoba — the Manitoba health card application, for comparison with the NWT process.
• How to Get a Saskatchewan Health Card — the Saskatchewan health card application, for comparison with the NWT process.
• How to Start Getting a Birth Certificate in Canada — the registration record that supports the legal-status document for your application.

Sources

• Government of the Northwest Territories, General Information for Residents — NWT Health Care Plan — eligibility and the 153-day rule, the age rule, who should not apply, the first-day-of-the-third-month start date and its exceptions, the application form and submission routes, the one legal-status document and two residency documents, the newborn form, the about-six-weeks delivery time, the three-year validity and renewal process, lost or damaged cards, what the plan covers and does not cover, travel and temporary absence, moving away, and the appeal route.
• Government of the Northwest Territories, Document Checklist — NWT Application for Health Care — the document checklist for the application form, including the one legal-status document and two residency documents.