How to Get a RAMQ Health Insurance Card in Quebec

The Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) administers Quebec's public health insurance plan, and the Health Insurance Card, often called the carte soleil for the sun printed on it, is the card that proves you are covered. This guide covers registration mechanics only: who can register, how to register, the waiting period, and how the card arrives. It gives no health advice. All steps below come from the RAMQ pages on registering for health insurance and medical services. Where RAMQ publishes only in French, the French term is given in the text.

Step 1: Check that you are eligible

To become, and remain, eligible for health insurance, you must meet certain conditions, including being domiciled in Quebec, meaning you have taken up residence and are usually present here. To remain eligible, you must be present in Quebec 183 days or more in the first 12 months after becoming eligible. Specifically, you must total less than 183 days of absence during this period, and absences of 21 days or less do not count. You are also required to notify RAMQ of a change of address within 30 days.

RAMQ's registration form asks questions to find the procedure for your situation, because eligibility and the waiting period depend on your status. Permanent residents, Canadian citizens settling in Quebec, temporary workers, and people with protected-person status follow different branches of the same form, and the documents requested depend on the answers you give.

Step 2: Register online once you are in Quebec

Use the RAMQ form to register for health insurance or to re-register after a prolonged absence. You must be in Quebec to register. Provide your mailing address in Quebec so RAMQ can send you your letter of eligibility and, subsequently, your Health Insurance Card. Gather the documents required for your situation before you start, and register only once: registering twice does not speed up processing.

RAMQ states its processing time is currently 60 working days. In certain cases, you will not receive an acknowledgement of receipt, but rest assured that all requests will be processed. RAMQ will contact you if your application is incomplete. You will receive a letter after your application for registration has been processed. This letter confirms whether or not you are eligible for the Québec Health Insurance Plan and indicates the date from which you will be able to benefit from it.

Step 3: Serve the waiting period of up to 3 months

In general, when you settle in Quebec, your health insurance coverage starts after a waiting period of up to 3 months after you register. However, under certain conditions, you could be exempt from the waiting period. If you register upon arrival from another country, your coverage will start after a waiting period of up to 3 months following your registration, and this period applies even if you are a Canadian citizen. It does not apply to children under age 18.

The exemptions RAMQ states on its registration pages include refugees and protected persons, who can benefit from health insurance without a waiting period, and government-assisted refugees accompanied by a community organization mandated by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration, whose organization takes charge of the application. People in Canada holding an approval-in-principle letter for permanent residence must contact RAMQ to register, and their coverage starts after a 3-month waiting period following registration.

Step 4: Keep your waiting-period letter and bridge the gap

RAMQ does not reimburse health care and services received during the waiting period, so it strongly recommends taking out private insurance as soon as you arrive in Quebec. Pending receipt of your Health Insurance Card, keep the letter indicating that you are subject to a waiting period, because some health care services are available free of charge to persons waiting for their coverage to take effect. On presentation of this letter, certain services may be provided free of charge during the waiting period.

Quebec also requires prescription drug insurance: anyone settled in Quebec on a permanent basis, and any child temporarily staying for more than 6 months, must have prescription drug insurance coverage. If you have access to a private plan, you must join it for the drug portion; if you do not, you must register with the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, which RAMQ also administers.

Step 5: Receive your Health Insurance Card and keep it current

RAMQ sends your Health Insurance Card by mail after your registration is processed. You will usually receive a renewal notice three months before your card expires. If your situation changes, tell RAMQ: a change of address must be reported within 30 days, and a prolonged absence from Quebec can end your eligibility and require re-registration. If you have questions about your file, RAMQ lists its phone line as 1 800 561-9749.

Figures the opened RAMQ pages do not state

The opened RAMQ pages state the waiting period, the exemptions, the 183-day presence rule, and the 60-working-day processing time set out above. They do not state a list of the countries whose social security agreements with Quebec can remove the waiting period, so this guide names none. Confirm whether your country has an agreement with Quebec, and what proof RAMQ needs, with RAMQ before you rely on an exemption. The pages also do not state a card delivery time after processing, so no arrival figure is given here.

Related guides:

• How to Get an OHIP Health Card in Ontario — Ontario's health card, where the application is made in person at a ServiceOntario centre with three separate documents.
• How to Start Getting Provincial Health Coverage as a Newcomer to Canada — the province-by-province coverage picture for newcomers, including Quebec's waiting period and the letter to keep.
• How to Get a BC Services Card and MSP Coverage in British Columbia — British Columbia's two-step enrolment and card process, with a wait period stated as the balance of the month plus two months.
• How to Start Getting Your Driver's Licence in Quebec — the SAAQ licence whose Health Insurance Card can serve as one of the two documents at your first licence appointment.

Sources

• Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, Register for health insurance — the online registration form, the 60-working-day processing time, and the phone line 1 800 561-9749.
• Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, Register for health insurance — settling in Québec — the waiting period of up to 3 months after registration, the exemptions, and the documents requested for each situation.
• Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, Medical services — the waiting period applying even to Canadian citizens, the exemption for children under 18, the recommendation to take out private insurance on arrival, and keeping the waiting-period letter for free services during the wait.
• Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, What you need to know in your first year of registration — the 183-days-or-more presence rule in the first 12 months, the 21-day absence rule, and the 30-day address-change notice.