Medical insurance for visitors to Canada from India

Indian travellers visited Canada in record numbers in 2017 with 2,54,000 arrivals which further increased to 2,87,000 in 2018 and is now the 7th largest foreign inbound market for Canada. With an increase of 13% over 2017 arrivals, India saw the strongest growth recorded from all Asia-Pacific markets. Indian tourists spend on average close to $1,500 (RS.1,05,000) per trip to Canada for just their tickets and visas. The most trip purpose of visiting Canada is to visit friends and family which was up an estimated 45% over previous years. India is considered to be one of the most sought after countries to migrate to as well for Indians. According to Wikipedia data from 2016, Indians comprised 4% of the Canadian population and Canada had around 13.5 lac Indians staying there.

Indian travellers are most likely to visit Canada in the spring/summer months of May and June during the year given that Canada can get really cold during their winter months of November – February. Visitors to Canada travel to Ontario and British Columbia most often, with Niagara Falls, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria being the most visited destinations. Alberta also saw increased visitation from Indian travellers with the Rocky Mountains being the biggest draw.

Research has suggested that Indians travel to Canada for a longer duration than most other visiting travellers. This could be due to the fact that they are visiting family as well as that they rarely spend so much money on just a short trip. Given the fact that Indians spend an average of 90-120 days on their trips to Canada, they are most likely to witness a couple of seasons of the year, and this changing climatic condition could result in illness of some nature. The average duration of Medical care in Canada is not as expensive as USA but it is definitely significantly costlier than in India. This is the primary reason that it is recommended that every Indian traveller going to Canada on a business/personal trip must carry their international health insurance cover. While there are inbound insurance providers in Canada willing to offer Indian tourists an insurance policy, the cost of the same will be higher when compared purchasing a comparable plan. Most importantly Indian insurance companies also offer Cashless Treatment for inpatients in hospitals abroad with the assistance of their Third Party Administrator (TPA).

There is an illustration below to explain the difference in costs of the Canada travel medical insurance for Indians. plans for your perusal. Please note that these are actual numbers taken from online websites for the purpose of comparison. The traveller is advised to compare the visitors medical insurance for Canada before making a final decision.