Health & Dental Insurance for Students

If you’re a student in Ontario, you probably have more health coverage than you realize, and the question is rarely “should I buy a plan” but “which of my existing plans pays first, and when do they stop.” OHIP covers your doctor and hospital care. OHIP+ covers prescriptions for under-25s who have no private plan. Your college or university almost certainly enrolled you in a health and dental plan the moment you paid tuition. And if a parent has group benefits at work, you may still be on that too.

A private plan usually enters the picture at three moments: when you graduate and everything lapses at once, when you turn 25, or when you’re an international or part-time student whose campus coverage is thinner than the full-time plan.

This guide is for students, and for parents trying to figure out whether their kid is actually covered. It walks through each layer, explains the opt-out decision, and gives indicative costs for the private plans that fill the gap when school ends.

The four layers of coverage most Ontario students already have

Think of your coverage as a stack. Each layer covers different things, and the order matters when a claim is paid.

Layer	What it covers	Who’s eligible	When it ends
OHIP	Doctor visits, hospital care, medically necessary tests	Ontario residents (not international students)	Doesn’t end, as long as you keep Ontario residency
OHIP+	Eligible prescription drugs on the Ontario Drug Benefit formulary	Ontarians under 25 with no private drug plan	Your 25th birthday, or when you gain a private plan
Campus health & dental plan	Prescriptions, dental, vision, paramedical, sometimes travel	Full-time students at most colleges and universities; part-time varies	End of the plan year (typically late summer) after you graduate or leave
Parent’s group benefits	Whatever the parent’s plan covers; you’re a dependent	Dependent children, commonly to 21, or to 25 while a full-time student	The age limit in the plan booklet, or when you stop being a full-time student

Two of these deserve a closer look because they trip people up.

How OHIP+ actually works with a campus plan

When OHIP+ launched, it covered everyone under 25. Since April 2019, it covers only those under 25 who have no private drug plan. A campus plan and a parent’s group plan both count as private plans. That means:

• If you’re on a campus plan, your prescriptions are billed to the campus plan first.
• If the campus plan doesn’t cover a drug, or you’ve used up its annual maximum, OHIP+ does not pick up the difference.
• If you opt out of the campus plan and you have no other private coverage, OHIP+ becomes your drug coverage, but only for drugs on the Ontario Drug Benefit formulary.

For most students this works fine. Where it bites is a student on an expensive medication that the campus plan caps at a few hundred dollars a year. That student may be better off on a parent’s plan with a higher drug maximum, or should ask about the Trillium Drug Program, which helps Ontarians with high drug costs relative to income. Our guide on OHIP+ vs private drug coverage walks through the decision in detail.

The parent’s plan: check the age and the student rule

Most group plans cover dependent children to a set age, commonly 21, with an extension to 25 (sometimes 26) if the child is a full-time student. The exact numbers and the definition of “full-time” are in the plan booklet, and they vary. Some plans require proof of enrolment each year. If your child drops to part-time, takes a gap semester, or turns 25 mid-degree, coverage can end quietly without anyone noticing.

If the parent’s plan and the campus plan both cover a student, the campus plan is usually the student’s “first payer” and the parent’s plan coordinates the remainder. Between the two, out-of-pocket costs are often close to zero, which is a strong argument for keeping both while you can.

Should you opt out of the campus health and dental plan?

Every fall, students get an email about opting out, and a lot of them do it to save a few hundred dollars without reading what they’re giving up. Here’s a fair way to think about it.

Reasons to stay in:

• Campus plans are cheap for what they cover because the whole student body is enrolled. You can’t buy the equivalent privately for the same money.
• Dental coverage on campus plans is often better than on a parent’s plan, and it has no waiting period.
• Some plans include paramedical (physio, massage, psychology) and a small amount of travel coverage that a parent’s plan may not extend to a student living away from home.
• Opt-out is usually one-way for the year. Miss the re-enrolment window and you’re without coverage until next September.

Reasons to opt out:

• You have a parent’s plan with a high drug maximum and comprehensive dental, and you’ve compared the two booklets side by side.
• You’re covered by a spouse’s plan or your own employer plan (mature and part-time students).
• You’re a co-op or work-term student whose employer provides benefits for the term, and the campus plan permits opting out in that case.

Most opt-outs require proof of comparable coverage, and the deadline is usually within the first few weeks of the term. One caution: some schools let you opt out of health and dental separately. Read the form.

International students: the OHIP gap

International students are not eligible for OHIP. Ontario universities require international students to enrol in the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP), which covers doctor and hospital care similar to what OHIP provides to residents. Ontario colleges arrange their own mandatory plans through private insurers. Either way, this coverage is for medical care, not for dental, vision or paramedical, which is why international students are typically enrolled in the campus health and dental plan as well.

Practical points for international students and their families:

• UHIP-type coverage usually begins when you arrive and ends when your studies end, sometimes with a short grace period. Plan for what happens after graduation while you wait for a work permit or apply for OHIP once eligible.
• Dependents (a spouse or child who comes with you) are not automatically covered and need to be added, which costs extra.
• If you travel outside Ontario, check whether your plan covers you. Many don’t, or only partially, and a separate travel policy is worth considering.

A student who finishes their program and moves onto a post-graduation work permit is in a genuine gap: no campus plan, no UHIP, and OHIP only once residency requirements are met. A private plan, or a short-term visitor-style medical plan, bridges that period. Our visitors to Canada insurance guide explains the medical-only options.

Studying abroad or on exchange

OHIP’s out-of-country coverage is minimal and won’t come close to the cost of a hospital stay abroad. Some campus plans include a modest travel benefit for students on exchange, but check the trip-length limit, because a full semester away often exceeds it. A dedicated travel medical policy for the length of the term is inexpensive at student ages. Read travel insurance for students studying abroad before you go.

The graduation cliff: when everything ends at once

This is the moment we hear from most. A student finishes in April. The campus plan runs to the end of August. They turn 25 that fall, so OHIP+ ends and the parent’s plan drops them. By September, someone who had three overlapping layers of coverage has none.

A job with benefits solves it, though many entry-level jobs impose a three-month wait before benefits start. For graduates who are freelancing, contracting, in a job without benefits, or still job-hunting, a private plan is the fix.

What a private plan looks like for a recent graduate:

• Basic tier: modest drug coverage with an annual cap, preventive dental (cleanings, exams, fillings), limited vision and paramedical.
• Enhanced tier: higher drug limits, major dental, stronger paramedical per practitioner, vision.

For a healthy applicant in their early-to-mid twenties, indicative monthly premiums are roughly $40–$70 for a basic plan and $80–$140 for an enhanced plan. These are illustrative ranges based on the Canadian individual health insurance market, not quotes; your rate depends on age, the tier and limits you choose, the insurer, and whether the plan is medically underwritten. Younger applicants sit at the low end of every insurer’s age bands, which is one reason private coverage is more affordable in your twenties than most people assume.

One timing tip that saves money: if you were on a parent’s plan or campus plan and apply for an individual plan within a set window after that coverage ends (commonly 60 days), some insurers waive the dental waiting period and health questions. Let the coverage lapse for six months and you’ll face waiting periods for dental and, if you’ve developed a condition in the meantime, possible exclusions.

What about mental health coverage?

Counselling is one of the most-used campus benefits and one of the first things graduates lose. Private plans include a paramedical benefit for psychology or psychotherapy, but some cap it at a few hundred dollars a year, which is only a few sessions. If therapy is a regular part of your life, that limit matters more than the drug cap. See does insurance cover therapy and mental health in Canada.

Quick checklist by situation

• Full-time student, under 25, parent has benefits: Stay on the campus plan and the parent’s plan. Keep a copy of both booklets. Nothing to buy.
• Full-time student, under 25, no parent’s plan: Stay on the campus plan. OHIP+ won’t cover what the campus plan doesn’t, so if you’re on an expensive medication, look at the Trillium Drug Program.
• Part-time or mature student: Confirm whether the campus plan is available to you. If not, and you have no employer or spousal plan, a basic private plan is worth pricing.
• International student: UHIP or the college equivalent for medical, campus plan for dental and extras. Add dependents if you have them. Plan for the post-graduation gap.
• Graduating this year: Note the month your campus plan ends and the month you turn 25. If no job benefits are lined up, apply for a private plan before the coverage ends to avoid waiting periods.

How Hayes can help

We compare individual health and dental plans from 30+ Canadian insurers, which matters for a graduate because the spread between insurers at the same tier is wide and the fine print (drug caps, dental waiting periods, per-practitioner limits) differs more than the premium does. We’ll also tell you when the right answer is to stay on a parent’s plan a little longer, or to skip drug coverage because OHIP+ still applies. Our advice is free; insurers pay us.

If you’re building your first full set of coverage after school, insurance in your 20s explains what’s worth buying now and what can wait.

Graduating or losing your campus plan? Get a free quote in about two minutes, no obligation.