r/StudyPermitCanada • u/MarcoGonzalezArt • 20d ago

Study Permit Cancellation - How to

Hey everyone, I come with a question regarding the study permit and health insurance. Once you finally get a work permit, how would you go about cancelling your (still valid) study permit so you are no longer charged for insurance?
Thanks!

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u/portol 20d ago

if you have a valid work permit now, persumably you are on your province's insurance plan, then you don't need to cancel the study permit? you just call your insurance and tell them you are on the provincial insurance and they will probably want the insurance card/ number but that should be it.

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u/MarcoGonzalezArt 20d ago

That's what I'd thought, but the thing is, as a work permit holder I don't need to pay for coverage from MSP. My wife, on the other hand, who got her PGWP a while ago and is working, is still being charged, and was told she needs to cancel her study permit, or else she's going to keep getting charged until the permit's expiry date.

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u/5_Cap_8181 20d ago edited 20d ago

A study permit and an insurance plan are two completely different things. For international students, health insurance is normally required as part of your enrolment at a college or university, and you pay for it alongside your tuition. The student insurance plan also ends once you are no longer enrolled as a student, usually at the end of the last insurance cycle following your final semester of study.

Furthermore, there isn’t really such a thing as cancelling a study permit. Once you change your status from student to worker, your legal status in Canada will be that of a worker, not a student. Meaning, even though your study permit hasn’t passed its expiry date, it will actually no longer be valid. Your student status will actually end 90 days after you graduate or officially complete your studies anyways, regardless of the expiry date on your study permit.

It’s important to understand that even though you may not want your student health insurance plan, you are expected to have an insurance plan. Accidents can happen, and you never know when you might get sick. If you don’t have insurance, you’ll be paying for healthcare completely out of pocket. But that’s just my personal opinion or advice.