Moving to Canada

Sounds very exciting @chloenelson1993

Do you know how long you'd be in Canada and which province you'd be in?

chloenelson1993 said:

I'll be honest it's a thought, currently there are no final decisions.

It would be 2 years however, coming back to the UK 3 times per year hopefully and it's a place called Alberta ?

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Ok, so if it was me I'd be asking if I got any special medical cover from your partner being in the army,firstly.

Then I'd Google healthcare in Alberta to try to get an idea of what's available. If you'll be working, then you could look into how that would affect your medical care/cover.

Google is your friend for basic info:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-canada

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/expat-health/7949665/Expat-guide-to-Canada-health-care.html



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Might be worth changing your title to Moving to Canada?
There are a few Canadians on the forum who maybe able to help with how healthcare there works..
@NoCrbs4Me is in Canada and there are more whose names I can't recall at the moment.
I would second Azures advice to see if the army will give you any cover although when I lived overseas it was only to married couples (but that was in the 1990's)

chloenelson1993 said:

I'll be honest it's a thought, currently there are no final decisions.

It would be 2 years however, coming back to the UK 3 times per year hopefully and it's a place called Alberta ?

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Sounds like your boyfriend is going to BATUS at CFB Suffield, which is the British Army's largest armoured training facility (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Army_Training_Unit_Suffield). That's not too far from where I live in Calgary. Suffield is a lovely place - it can get down to -40 C in the winter.

We have a modern western medical system here that is free for residents. If you move to Alberta from outside of Canada your coverage begins on your date of arrival in Alberta, once all registration validation requirements are met. (http://www.health.alberta.ca/AHCIP/register-for-AHCIP.html)

Insulin is only covered here up to CDN$600 per year (http://www.health.alberta.ca/services/diabetic-supplies.html). However, if you were a dependent of someone in the British army posted to Canada, I'm guessing the British government has some mechanism for health care for people posted here. I think your boyfriend should ask about how it would work for your health care coverage with his superiors in his unit. If you're not considered a dependent, you might need to get married to get health care coverage through the army or even live with him on base.

One important thing to address: I doubt you can just move to Alberta with your boyfriend without going through the paperwork/bureaucracy of becoming a landed immigrant (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/index.asp). I would think it would not be an issue if you're married to someone posted to Canada with the army.

Hope this helps.

Hi @chloenelson1993

I moved to Costa Rica last year for a 2 year job so I know what you are going through! Its scary but alot of things can be sorted out before you leave and (luckily!) you are going somewhere where the language is English!

Definitely follow the advice of @NoCrbs4Me and @DCUKMod and check out what you can get through your boyfriend as a dependent, as you might be totally covered, who knows!

Talk to your care team at home about moving. I started to stockpile insulin (about 6 months worth) before I left as your GP can only prescribe 3 months in one go. You might be able to get the same insulin over there, but you might not and it is worth having a supply to keep you going until your insurance etc gets sorted. Costa Rica is a little different as they do not provide the insulin I am on (Glargine and Humalog) on their version of the NHS. You can however buy it over the counter (no questions asked, which I find very strange) but it is expensive. I currently return to the UK every 6 months or so and stock up on all my insulin/test strips etc and fly back with it all which is a pain, but I have no diabetes specialist team out here.

Canada (I think!) is likely to be more developed in their diabetes care than Costa Rica. It is worth using google to search for diabetes specialists in the area you will be going to and contacting them if possible to ask about the general diabetes care there.

Let us know how you get on, and PM me if you want to chat more about moving to another country. It might be a pain, but it is totally worth it! Last week I went to the Pacific ocean and sat on the veranda of an airbnb house with a sloth in the tree above me and a troop of spider monkeys playing on the roof! It could be worse!

Becky xxx

I am beginning to think that the NHS should check if you are tax resident in the UK before giving you any prescriptions or treatments....

ringi said:

I am beginning to think that the NHS should check if you are tax resident in the UK before giving you any prescriptions or treatments....

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It's not to do with paying taxes. It's if a person is "ordinarily resident" and a person can be working abroad and still count as "ordinarily resident" for the purposes of NHS treatmemt.

They must be resident for a minimum of 3 months to qualify as ordinarily resident or be able to prove that you intend to be.

azure said:

It's not to do with paying taxes. It's if a person is "ordinarily resident" and a person can be working abroad and still count as "ordinarily resident" for the purposes of NHS treatmemt.

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"ordinarily resident" is the concept behind the rules on someone having to pay tax in the UK, but for some reason, people think it is OK to tell the HMRC they don't live in the UK, but yet come back to use the NHS when needed.

DCUKMod said:

He set a lot of (personal) stall by the fact that we maintain a property here at all times and don't let it out when neither of us are here. That particular GP has retired, but we have both continued to be totally honest about our lifestyle and the replacement GP is happy to continue with the existing arrangements, and in fact always asks when we're next away.

Lots of people in the sailing community are affected by this and their experiences are very mixed.

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The HMRC have won court cases based on someone keeping a property for their usage in the UK (along with golf club membership etc) showing they are still resident in the UK even when they are out of the UK for most of the year.

Cypus is the real con (unless it has changed) as someone can retire there and only pay 5% tax on their pension, but as soon as the health insurance becomes too much claim it is only a holiday home.

ringi said:

"ordinarily resident" is the concept behind the rules on someone having to pay tax in the UK, but for some reason, people think it is OK to tell the HMRC they don't live in the UK, but yet come back to use the NHS when needed.

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If you believe someone is committing a fraud then you should repirt them, but it's possible to be "ordinarily resident" in more than one country and it's also possible for someone to be working abroad and still qualify for NHS treatment.

@cott97 Im not sure where you got the three months from?

NHS rules. I've applied them for someone in one of those warm countries relatively recently. As another poster says GPs use their common sense - you won't be delisted generally for a 6 month cruise but if it was known you were living abroad then you would be. It's not necessarily the primary care that's the issue but the use of secondary care.

azure said:

@cott97 Im not sure where you got the three months from?

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I think it comes from a very old tax test case when the judge had to define what resident means.

This mess could mostly be all sorted out if the NHS and HMRC used the same database of people who are resistant in the UK with all the rules being the same.

azure said:

it's possible to be "ordinarily resident" in more than one country

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Then the tax is paid in both countries with the tax paid in the lower tax county offset against the high tax country. Normally the person has access to healthcare in both countries.

azure said:

possible for someone to be working abroad and still qualify for NHS treatment.

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In nearly all cases of this, the person still has to pay tax in the UK if they tell everyone the full truth. (With complex rules to stop double tax.)

There are strict rules regarding NHS services which though rarely fully applied are enshrined in legislation. Regardless of where they originated they are the rules we can apply and if you are living abroad for more than 3 months you lose your entitlement to free NHS care. Anyone is entitled to immediate and necessary treatment from their GP and quite what that covers is an interesting debate.