New Travel insurance requirements for Canada WHP?
Hi everyone,
Ive just been imformed that apparently it is now required for persons traveling to canada under the 2year WHP visa that you have to have travel insurance covering the duration of your planned stay prior to arrival in Canada. If you only have say 3 months, they will reduce your visa to 3months! Im going over with not much of a plan as far as how long ill be there after the season and am at a loss as to what travel insurance to get. Does anyone know of a company that allows unused insurance to be cashed in say the same as car insurance? or suits my situation. Thanks in advance
CANADIAN CONSULATE UPDATE (20 April 2012): It is now a requirement of the Working Holiday Permit program that you can demonstrate that you have travel insurance coverage for the full 24 months of your insurance policy. The border representatives who will process your WHP when you arrive in Canada have the authority to give you a permit matching the length of your insurance policy if it covers less than 24 months
I am not the best person to guide you on this as I had full travel insurance for every WHM visa I ever had. (regardless of how long i experted to stay!)
When you say you don’t know what your plans are after the season is that cause you have no idea where you will be?
Or that you may come straight home?
If the first you can get a global cover, so it wont matter where you are. But yes sucks if you come home.
I have never heard of a company that allows you to cash in (but then again i have never needed too!)
man ur quick 
yeah no worries, at this point im going with the idea im going to be abroad for atleast the 2years though the longest travel insurance i can find seems too be 18months
Very interesting… thanks for bringing that up. I’ll definitely be looking into that a bit more.
man ur quick
Hmm interesting point!
I would ring the consulate and tell them you are very happy to meet their requirements for travel insurance but struggling to find a company that does the full 2 years.
They should have some suggested - best case scenario for you is that they say “well we realise that is an impossible task so if you have at least 12 mths we will assume you will continue the cover… ” or some such nonsense!
I love how people just make a law and then don’t actually think through the ramifications or whether it is doable!
Q: What type of insurance must I buy before leaving for Canada?
A: IEC requires you to buy and maintain health-care insurance (covering medical care, hospitalization and repatriation) for the entire duration of your stay in Canada. We recommend that you buy this insurance only after you have received your Letter of Introduction, confirming that your IEC application was successful.
You may be refused entry if you do not have insurance. If your insurance policy is valid for less than 24 months, you may be issued a work permit that expires at the same time as your insurance.
The work permit cannot be extended even if you obtain an insurance coverage extension later on. Instead, you will need to re-apply through the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney Australia, meet the criteria at the time of the new application, submit the required documentation and pay another fee. Please be advised that the IEC Section at the Consulate General of Canada in Sydney does not have the mandate of providing a list of insurers and cannot provide further advice on insurance matters.
I’ll get in touch with a friend who has just done her renewal and see if she’s noticed this aswell.. In the past they’ve just checked that I’ve actually got travel insurance, the date itself has never been checked at immigration. Just hope this is something that isn’t going to be a major concern.
Looking at those two bold sections -
1. buy and ‘maintain’ - same as before, make sure you keep it up to date and you won’t have a problem.
2. They aren’t going to give you any help with insurers. It would be a legal thing as they’d be influencing your decision making process.
CANADIAN CONSULATE UPDATE (20 April 2012): It is now a requirement ............
I came into Canada about 3 weeks ago with only 12 months travel insurance and was granted a full two year visa. I think you should be fine.
When I landed in Vancouver at the beginning of the month they didn’t even look to see if I had insurance or even check my bank statements so I say you’ll be fine.
^all comes down to the person you see at immigration. My first time going through they didn’t check a thing.. 2nd time around they checked everything.
I was shitting myself on the border between US and Canada cause I lied to get my visa - I wasn’t in Australia at the time.
It was plain as day in my passport that i never went home to get Canadian visa!
I was on my absolute last day on my US visa and was screwed if they didn’t let me in!
They checked NOTHING
Can ya get a 24 month policy that allows to be paid by the month?????
That way you can cancel it if you decide to move on!!!!!
Longest he can find is 18mths!
I don’t think travel insurance should be an issue as long as you have some travel insurance if they ask. You can always say you’re planning on extending it etc. I honestly couldn’t imagine them shortening your visa if you can’t prove you have 24 months worth of insurance. It wouldn’t work for so many reasons. Worth looking into further though.
Thanks guys im going to buy 12months and go from there, its my first time in canada so hopefully i wont have any drama. Will let you know how i go
Rolled through no questions asked they didnt check any insurance or proof of finances etc! So yeah all good
Great news!
See you in Whistler!