How long do you have to live in Canada for getting free healthcare?
While migrating to a different country, one of the very first thoughts that come to your mind is the infrastructure and provisions for healthcare in the place that you might call your new home. Healthcare is a very important topic when taking into consideration the rising number of diseases that the global population is exposed to these days, with the increase in pollution and other harmful changes in the environment.
In current scenario, when talking about healthcare and migration, the prime choice anyone would make would be to relocate to Canada. After all, Canada offers free healthcare and discrimination-free co-habitation, among several other positive benefits.
But, how long do you have to live in Canada to avail free health care?
Healthcare in Canada is public funded, which means that the cost of medical expenses is shared by the taxpayers. Thus, people with ailments can avail medical services without paying for most of the treatments. The government guarantees the quality of healthcare through federal standards. There is limited coverage for mental healthcare, oral healthcare, physiotherapy, sex-reassignment surgeries, assistive devices, podiatry and for seniors.
The required criteria
To avail the benefits of free healthcare, one needs to be a Canadian citizenship holder or must be in Canada with a valid work visa, or must be on an exchange program or else must be a permanent resident. To be a Canadian citizen, one needs to be 18 years of age, must have knowledge about Canada, must speak either English or French, and should have spent 6 years in Canada with best behaviour, must not have committed any crime in 4 years during the 6 year stay, should be able to provide 4 years of income tax filing of the 6 years of stay. To be a permanent resident, one needs to have stayed in Canada for 3 complete years right before submitting the application for citizenship during the 6 year probationary stay. The Canadian government defines permanent residency as living in Canada for at least 2 years in a 5 year period, else the permanent resident status shall be revoked.
To sum it up, one can avail free healthcare in Canada but needs to clear certain terms and conditions to get the same. To understand this better, refer to our experienced service providers at ‘The Accounting and Tax’, as we are one of the most experienced and best tax consultants in Toronto and have provided services all throughout Canada.
