Manitoba Health Card

Manitoba Health issues a card (or registration certificate) to all Manitoba residents, which includes a 9-digit lifetime identification number for each family member. The white paper card has purple and red print, and includes the previous 6-digit family or single person’s registration number, name and address of Manitoba resident, family member’s given name and alternate (if applicable), sex, birth date, effective date of coverage, and 9-digit Personal Health Identification Number (PHIN).

Registration certificates issued by the Insured Benefits Branch confirm eligibility, provided you continue to live in Manitoba. Carry your certificate with you at all times and present it whenever you or your dependents require health services.

Your registration is affected by any change in location or family status. Please report a new address, a marriage, birth, adoption, death, divorce or legal separation to the Insured Benefits Branch.

Registration certificates entitle persons named on the certificate to health benefits. It is an offense under The Health Services Insurance Act to allow a person to use the certificate whose name is not recorded on the certificate.

If you lose your certificate, be sure to write or telephone the Insured Benefits Branch for a replacement.

To be eligible for Manitoba Health coverage you must:
  • Be a Canadian citizen or have Immigration status as outlined in the Health Services Insurance Act
  • Establish a permanent residence in Manitoba, and
  • Reside (physically) in Manitoba six months in a calendar year

The following are not eligible for coverage:
  • Tourists
  • Transients
  • Visitors
  • students other than Manitoba residents
  • Students temporarily absent from other countries or other provinces and territories in Canada to attend educational institutions in Manitoba are not eligible for registration with the Manitoba Health Plan

If you are eligible (i.e., legally entitled to be in Canada and live in Manitoba for at least 183 days of the year), coverage will begin on the first day of the third month after your arrival in Manitoba. For example, if you arrive on April 29, April will count as the first month, with May and June as the following two. Therefore, in this case your coverage would begin July 1.

For more information on Manitoba Health, visit there website at www.gov.mb.ca

The Town of Minnedosa office has the form which needs to be filled out to register for a Health card, which requires your Social Insurance Number, previous health card, birth certificate and/or driver’s license. Until your health coverage begins you should maintain your coverage with your previous health plan.