How to apply for a New Brunswick Medicare Card: who qualifies, the online, mail, and in-person routes, the documents for each situation, and when coverage starts.
Applies in: New Brunswick
A New Brunswick Medicare Card is the card that lets you receive insured health services in New Brunswick. It is issued through New Brunswick Medicare, administered by the Department of Health, with applications handled through Service New Brunswick. This guide covers registration mechanics only: who qualifies, how to apply, the documents for each situation, and when coverage starts. It gives no health advice and no advice about which services you should seek. All wording below comes from the Government of New Brunswick page on applying for Medicare coverage and the New Brunswick Medicare Application form.
You are eligible for New Brunswick Medicare coverage if you are lawfully entitled to be or remain in Canada and you make your home and are ordinarily present in New Brunswick. The Medical Services Payment Act defines a resident as a person lawfully entitled to be or remain in Canada who makes his home and is ordinarily present in New Brunswick — and it does not include a tourist, transient, or visitor to the province.
You are not eligible if you are a student from another Canadian province. Students from outside New Brunswick should consult their provincial Medicare plan for coverage for hospital and physician services outside their home province.
International students who meet the eligibility criteria can receive New Brunswick Medicare coverage. Eligible students are undergraduate, graduate, diploma, and certificate students with a valid Canada Immigration document, in full-time attendance as defined by the approved educational institution for the full scholastic year — at least from September to April — at a post-secondary university, community college, or private institution as determined by the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. Spouses and dependents are eligible under this program if they live with the student and possess their own valid immigration document for the same period of time. Exchange students are not eligible, students enrolled in part-time studies are not eligible, and international students residing in New Brunswick but completing online studies through a learning institution outside New Brunswick are not eligible.
If you are new or returning to New Brunswick, you may apply to obtain Medicare coverage. A completed Medicare application must be submitted for eligibility consideration upon completing your permanent move to New Brunswick. You have three routes:
You cannot apply for New Brunswick Medicare before your arrival in New Brunswick. A separate application for registration must be completed for any child 19 years of age or older. If you are completing the form on behalf of an individual (not a dependant) who is 19 years of age or older, a copy of Power of Attorney documents must be provided. Applications are assessed on an individual basis, and other documents and information may be requested to verify eligibility.
If you are currently under maintained status and experiencing delays in renewing your immigration documents through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, you may still be eligible for continued Medicare coverage. Email a copy of your IRCC confirmation letter — showing your full name and the date your application was received — to Medicare, and if you meet the eligibility criteria, your coverage may be extended from the expiry date of your previous IRCC documents.
To process your application, you must provide photocopies of documents supporting three things: status in Canada, identity, and residency in New Brunswick. One document is required from the status list and the identity list for each person listed on the application form, and one document is required from the residency list for the applicant completing the form. The same document may not be used to satisfy more than one requirement. If documentation from each category is not submitted, the application will not be processed. Do not send original documents, as Medicare cannot guarantee their return. A copy of the last entry date stamp in the passport is required for each person arriving from outside Canada, if applicable.
International students must also submit their valid IRCC study permit, their arrival date into the province (and the arrival date of dependents), proof of enrolment as a full-time post-secondary student stating the program start date and end date, a valid immigration document for the full scholastic year for the student and dependents, proof of residency, and a copy of their passport and last entry date stamp to Canada. An acceptance letter is not accepted as proof of enrolment.
Submit the completed application online, by mail or email to Medicare at PO Box 5100, Fredericton, NB E3B 5G8, or in person at a Service New Brunswick office. Please allow four to six weeks, upon receipt by Medicare, for processing your application. Once a completed application form is received and eligibility is established, a letter indicating the actual start date of your New Brunswick Medicare coverage is issued, followed by a New Brunswick Medicare card.
If you need help with the form, contact Service New Brunswick Teleservices at 1-888-762-8600, or 506-684-7901 from outside North America.
If you moved to New Brunswick from within Canada, you may be eligible for New Brunswick Medicare coverage on the first day of the third month following the month you established permanent residence in New Brunswick. For example, if you moved to New Brunswick on July 20, the month of July counts as the first month, with August and September as the following two, and coverage would begin October 1. The three-month waiting period is legislated under New Brunswick's Medical Services Payment Act. If you moved from another Canadian province or territory, contact your former place of residence to ensure continuous coverage during the three-month waiting period.
If you are a newcomer or a Canadian citizen moving or returning to New Brunswick after living in another country, you may be entitled to Medicare coverage from your first day of arrival in the province, provided you meet the eligibility requirements and are deemed by the Director to have established a permanent residence in New Brunswick. This first-day rule has applied since June 17, 2010. Medicare must also be satisfied that you do not have, or do not intend to maintain, permanent resident status in any other country before receiving coverage.
The spouse or dependent of a regular member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has entered the province from another Canadian province or territory is entitled to first-day coverage, providing they have established residence in New Brunswick.
To register your newborn, contact Service New Brunswick Teleservices at 1-888-762-8600 or visit your nearest Service New Brunswick office, and be prepared to provide the child's full name, date of birth, gender, and your Medicare number — and, for multiple births, which baby was born first. A newborn registration form is generally provided to you while in the hospital and forwarded to New Brunswick Medicare directly; once the form is received and no additional information is required, your baby will be registered and a card will be mailed out. Babies born in New Brunswick to non-eligible New Brunswick residents may be eligible for coverage under the New Brunswick Medicare Payment plan, provided New Brunswick residency has been established and the child remains in New Brunswick.
To register an adopted child, complete the required form and mail it to Medicare directly or deliver it in person to a Service New Brunswick office, along with the final adoption order and the birth certificate, plus the name of the social worker if applicable and the adoptive parents' identifying information. A child adopted from outside Canada also needs a copy of the child's immigration document or proof of Canadian citizenship and a copy of the final legal adoption document.
You must inform New Brunswick Medicare by calling Service New Brunswick at 1-888-762-8600 or visiting your local Service New Brunswick office if you are leaving the province for a permanent move, a vacation or visit of 30 days or more, business, contract work out of country, mobile work, or studies. Failure to do so before your departure may result in termination of your coverage.
If you permanently leave New Brunswick to establish permanent residence elsewhere in Canada, you will receive coverage for New Brunswick insured services for three months, including the month you moved — for example, if you move on March 31, you will be covered until May 31. Register in the new province or territory immediately upon arrival to ensure continuous coverage. If you move outside Canada, New Brunswick Medicare coverage ends on the date of departure.
Permanent New Brunswick residents who plan to be temporarily absent for a vacation or visit remain insured during their absence, provided they have lived in New Brunswick for at least five months (153 days, consecutive or not) during a 12-month period. If that criterion is met, residents may be temporarily absent for up to 212 days for vacation or visits. New Brunswick Medicare can also offer up to 12 months of coverage once every three years from the time of return, which involves a written request submitted to the Director of Medicare; if the leave exceeds 12 months, residents must reapply for Medicare coverage upon their return to New Brunswick. For business absences, you may be temporarily absent for up to 182 days (consecutive or not) in a 12-month period without affecting your coverage, provided your intention is to resume permanent residence in New Brunswick.
The official New Brunswick pages state no card validity period for a permanent New Brunswick Medicare Card, no replacement-card fee or replacement process, and no renewal cycle for a resident card. Third-party pages quote a five-year validity period, but the official pages do not state it, so it is not repeated here. The official pages also give no direct web address for the online Medicare application, so this guide links to the Government of New Brunswick applying-for-coverage page rather than naming a portal address. Confirm the card validity period, the renewal process, and how to replace a lost or damaged card with Medicare at 1-888-762-8600, and check the current applying for Medicare coverage page before you rely on a date.
You qualify if you are lawfully entitled to be or remain in Canada and you make your home and are ordinarily present in New Brunswick. A resident under the Medical Services Payment Act does not include a tourist, transient, or visitor to the province. Students from another Canadian province are not eligible for New Brunswick Medicare coverage and should stay on their home province's plan.
Complete the online Medicare application, or complete the PDF version of the application and mail or email it directly to Medicare, or deliver it in person to a Service New Brunswick office. You cannot apply before you arrive in New Brunswick; a completed application must be submitted upon completing your permanent move. A separate application must be completed for any child 19 years of age or older.
You must provide photocopies of documents in three categories: status in Canada, identity, and residency in New Brunswick. One document from the status list and one from the identity list is required for each person on the application, and one document from the residency list is required for the applicant. The same document cannot be used for more than one requirement, and if documentation from each category is not submitted, the application will not be processed. Do not send original documents; they will not be returned.
Allow four to six weeks for processing once Medicare receives your application. If you moved from another Canadian province, coverage begins on the first day of the third month following the month you established permanent residence in New Brunswick; for example, if you moved on July 20, July counts as the first month, August and September as the following two, and coverage begins October 1. The three-month waiting period is legislated under New Brunswick's Medical Services Payment Act, so contact your former province to make sure you stay covered during the wait.
Newcomers and Canadian citizens moving or returning to New Brunswick after living in another country may be entitled to Medicare coverage from their first day of arrival, provided they meet the eligibility requirements and are deemed by the Director to have established a permanent residence in New Brunswick. Only once you have physically moved to New Brunswick can an application be submitted, and applications are assessed case by case. The spouse or dependent of a regular member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has entered the province from another Canadian province or territory is also entitled to first-day coverage once residence is established.
New Brunswick Medicare does not cover certain non-insured services as outlined in Schedule 2 of the Medical Services Payment Act. The card covers insured physician and hospital services for eligible residents; services outside that insured list, such as prescription drugs outside hospital, are not covered by Medicare and may need private insurance. If you leave New Brunswick for 30 days or more, tell Medicare before you go, or your coverage may be terminated.