Insurance in Canada

Insurance

Once you arrive and are going through the settlement process, getting insurance in Canada is one of the things you will need to consider and complete first. The decision to acquire insurance will largely depend on your circumstances, such as whether you have moved with your partner, starting a family, renting or buying a home or apartment, starting a business, and buying a new vehicle.   

Like everywhere else, insurance will protect you from financial loss or hardship while you are in Canada. The insurance will help cover costs if something unexpected were to happen to your family, vehicle, home, or any of your prized assets.

Insurance products cover different forms of insurance and risks, and as a foreign national you will need to understand the different forms.

Understanding your insurance policy

An insurance policy is a binding legal agreement between you (the insured) and the insurance firm (insurer).

A typical insurance policy specifies the following:
The risks which are covered by your insurance company
Under what circumstances will the insurer make payment to you
How much money, or what type of benefit, you’ll get if you make a claim

Life Insurance

As an immigrant to Canada, life insurance is of vital importance. Canada receives a large number of new immigrants from all over the world each year. These immigrants can either be professionals, aspiring business persons, and people who are reuniting with their families. The common theme for foreign nationals moving to Canada is that they have aspirations for a better quality of life, and in the process to contribute to the Canadian economy and infrastructure.

Financial protection is something important for all immigrants to consider that would soften the financial blow if there is death, illness, or disability in the family. A life policy along with some illness and injury protection is a must-have.

For new immigrants to Canada, the following insurance-related steps must be taken:
1. A 90-day medical insurance plan to cover health, dental, prescription drugs coverage. This is important as it is able to offset the OHIP coverage which does not get activated in the first 90 days.
2. A life insurance plan along with some critical illness insurance, as you may already be aware, moving to a new country has its own sets of anxieties and pressures, etc. This pressure could stem from uncertainty and ambiguity of change of residence and in some cases adaptation can also cause some stresses. It is these stresses that create the need for acquiring protection of the family in case something were to happen to the breadwinner such as death or terminal illness.