# Non-Insured Clients
Despite Canada having a universal healthcare system, there are thousands of people in Ontario who do not have access to OHIP or other health insurance plans. For many, the lack of health insurance is tied to immigration status. Non-insured groups can include new immigrants, refugees, migrant workers, international students, and migrants with precarious or no status, as well as those eligible for OHIP but who do not have a card.
People making Ontario their home can experience barriers to health care due to lack of or limited insurance coverage, restrictive policies, language and cultural differences, and low income. Many non-insured people avoid seeking care until their health issues become more serious. When people avoid or delay care, health outcomes are worse leading to more complex and costly interventions, emergency care, and hospitalizations.
In Ontario, Community Health Centres have a mandate to provide services for non-insured clients who are making Ontario their home. CHCs are limited in their capacity to meet the demand. The programs and supports available for non-insured clients are under-resourced and unable to meet needs across the province. The Alliance for Healthier Communities continues to work with our members and decision makers to advocate for improving healthcare access for non-insured individuals in Ontario.
# Resources:
# Learn More
- NCCDH: Migrant Health Issue Brief (2025)
- NCCDH: An introduction to migrant health and justice in Canada – Webinar recording (2025)
- Article – Exploring the perspectives of non-insured individuals utilizing emergency departments in Toronto: a qualitative study (2025)
- Challenging Compound Disadvantage Project (2025)
- Health Network for Uninsured Clients – Two Steps Back (2024)
- Health Network for Uninsured Clients – A Bridge to Universal Healthcare (2023)
- Alliance: Statement - For residents who are uninsured, Ontario needs to hit pause on current changes and develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce illnesses and costs across the health system (2023)
- Article – Health outcomes, health services utilization, and costs consequences of medicare uninsurance among migrants in Canada: A systematic review (2023)
- Article – Exploring the perspectives of healthcare providers that care for non-insured individuals utilizing emergency departments in Toronto (2022)
- Article - Immigration Status as the Foundational Determinant of Health for People Without Status in Canada: A Scoping Review (2022)
- Policy Options – Health care needs to extend to undocumented migrants (2024)
- Healthy Debates: What is the price of human life? Cutting off uninsured is ‘irresponsible’ (2023)
- Healthy Debates: What will happen to Ontario’s uninsured? Experts weigh in (2023)
- Healthy Debates: Uninsured health cuts and pregnancy: Why all Canadians should care (2023)
# Resources for Providers
- Government of Canada: IFHP Temporary health care coverage
- Government of Ontario: Apply for OHIP and get a health card
- Government of Ontario: Registration of Ontario Health Insurance coverage
- Government of Ontario: Resources for international agri-food workers
- Health Network for Uninsured Clients – OHIP Registration for Newborns of Uninsured Patients and Custodians – A Guide for Hospital Staff