Registration

NWT residents must register with the NWT Health Care Plan in order to qualify for benefits.

 

Who Can Register?

  • permanent residents of the NWT

  • landed immigrants

  • legal residents of Canada

  • individuals holding an employment or student visa that is for one year or more (note: document must have an NWT address)

  • individuals holding an employment or student visa that is for one year or more. Document must have an NWT address.

Proof of eligibility may be required.

Who Cannot Register?

  • tourists, transients and visitors to the NWT

  • temporary workers

  • students whose permanent residence is a province or the Yukon and Nunavut

  • individuals holding an employment or student visa that is for less than one year.

  • individuals holding an employment or student visa that does not have an NWT address.

  • members of the RCMP, and Canadian Armed Forces (their families and dependents who meet the eligibility criteria can register)

  • inmates of Federal Penitentiaries

How to Register

Registration forms can be downloaded from our website, and are also available at health facilities such as medical clinics, health centres, hospitals, and the Health Services Administration Office in Inuvik.

If you are not a Canadian citizen and you are moving to the NWT from outside Canada, you must submit one of the following with your registration form: 

  • working visa

  • student authorization

  • minister’s permit

  • landed immigrant papers 

After the Department of Health and Social Services approves your application, you will be issued a NWT health care card with a personal health care number. Keep this card with you as you must present the card to receive health care benefits. To ensure your coverage is maintained, notify the Department of Health and Social Services if: 

  • you lose your card 

  • your name or address changes 

  • you move out of the NWT

When do benefits begin?

Generally, if you have moved to the NWT from another Canadian province or territory, benefits begin on the first day of the third month following your arrival. Remember to register. During the first three months of residency, benefits are provided by the health care plan of your former province or territory. You must ensure that your previous coverage continues during this period. 

NOTE: Temporary residents must contact their previous province or territory to inform them of their temporary absence so that their coverage is maintained. 

For persons discharged from the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP, federal penitentiary, or Canadian citizens returning to the NWT from living outside Canada, coverage is effective the day you establish permanent residency in the NWT. 

If you are not a Canadian citizen and moving to the NWT from outside Canada, your coverage is effective the day you arrive in the NWT (see How to Register for more information). 

If an infant is born out of the NWT to a NWT resident, the coverage is effective at birth. Please note that parents must register their infants; there is not an automatic registration process. 

 

Last Updated: November 08, 2006

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