Travel Insurance for Canadians: What You Actually Need
Insurance is the part of travel nobody enjoys buying and everybody who's needed it evangelizes. Here's the plain-language version of what we tell every client.
What Your Provincial Plan Won't Do
Outside Canada, BC's MSP reimburses a sliver of foreign medical costs — a fraction of US emergency-room reality, where a broken ankle can bill five figures and an air ambulance six. Emergency medical coverage of $5 million is the standard we recommend for any travel beyond Canada, including day trips to Washington State.
The Credit Card Myth
Premium cards do include travel coverage — with limits that surprise people: trip-length caps (often 10–25 days), age ceilings that quietly exclude parents and grandparents, and the requirement that the trip was charged to that card. Card coverage is a starting point, not a plan. Bring us your card's certificate and we'll gap-check it in minutes, free.
The Four Coverages, Ranked
1. Emergency medical — non-negotiable abroad. 2. Trip cancellation — refunds prepaid costs when covered reasons (illness, family emergency) force cancellation; sized to your non-refundable total. 3. Trip interruption — gets you home mid-trip when life happens. 4. Baggage — nice, but airlines' liability and card coverage already overlap here. Buy in that order.
Timing & Traps
Some benefits — notably Cancel For Any Reason upgrades and pre-existing condition waivers — must be purchased within days of your first trip deposit. Stability clauses on pre-existing conditions (typically 3–6 months unchanged) are where claims fail; match the wording to your actual health history, not your optimism. Cruises add their own wrinkle: coverage for missed embarkation and onboard medical is essential.
What It Costs & Next Steps
Rule of thumb: comprehensive coverage runs roughly 4–8% of trip cost, driven by age, duration and destination — trivial against what it protects. Every quote we issue includes an insurance recommendation matched to the actual trip; the full picture lives at travel insurance, and questions cost nothing: +1 (778) 369-0022.
Asked, answered.
Do I need insurance for US day trips?
Yes — proximity doesn't discount American healthcare. Even a Seattle weekend deserves medical coverage.
Is annual multi-trip insurance worth it?
For two or more trips a year, usually — one policy, every departure covered, often cheaper by trip two.
Does insurance cover pandemics or advisories?
Policies vary sharply here — some exclude known events at purchase. We match current wording to current conditions before you buy.
Can non-clients buy insurance through you?
Yes — we're happy to quote coverage for trips booked elsewhere.