When you come to study or work at a university in Ontario, you must have insurance to pay for health care services. The University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) provides you with this insurance.

All international students and their dependents (partner/spouse and/or children) are required to have UHIP coverage.

Enrolment in UHIP is compulsory, because you are not covered by the government health care plan in Ontario.

You are covered by UHIP the day you arrive in Canada as long as it is no earlier than four months before your university term/employment begins. *You must enroll your dependents no more than 30 days after they arrive in Canada.

UHIP pays up to $1,000,000 a year for each member for the cost of eligible medically necessary health services and medical treatments. Eligible expenses are various hospital services in Ontario, physicians’ services in Ontario, emergency ambulance, medically necessary dental care in hospital, child vaccines, pneumonia, ear infections and various other treatments. For more information visit the UHIP website.

UHIP does not cover routine eye examinations for people between the ages of 20-65, chiropractic services, physiotherapy, eyeglasses, frames, contact lenses, drugs (whether prescribed or not), dental care, acupuncture and various other treatments/expenses. For more information visit the UHIP website.

You must fill out a UHIP application form as soon as you arrive in Canada. This form is available at the Business Office located at 202 Regina Street.

Once you complete the UHIP Application Form, the staff at the business office will stamp the application form, which you can use as a temporary proof of coverage. Approximately 8 weeks or more after you fill the application you will receive a wallet sized proof of coverage for each member. You can collect this card at the office of Laurier International. For UHIP costs go to My Laurier

What you do when you visit a health provider:

You must present the copy of your stamped Application Form, or your UHIP card, to let your health care provider know that you have the health insurance. If the health care provider does not submit the request for payment, you will have to pay the provider and send the original receipts for the payment you made with a completed claim form to the UHIP administrator, at the address on the form. You receive a supply of claim forms with your proof of coverage card. You will need your student/employee number, which appears on both the application form and the proof of coverage card to claim reimbursement of your eligible medical expenses.

To contact someone at Sunlife Financial, send an e-mail to askus@sunlife.com or call their toll-free number: 1-866-500-UHIP (8447).

Student Extended Supplementary and Health Plans:

Student extended plans provide additional coverage for services that are not covered under UHIP. These extended plans ARE COMPLETELY SEPARATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS FROM UHIP.

To obtain more information: Undergraduate international students: contact the WLU Student Union at: 519-884-0710 ext. 3557 Graduate international students: contact the Graduate Student Association at 519-884-0710 ext. 3501