Travel Insurance for Travelling Canadians

No one expects to have an accident when they’re traveling, but they do happen.

Ready for an upcoming trip?

Many of us excitedly plan out an out of the country (or province) trip; counting the days as it grew nearer, meticulously scheduling each day’s itinerary, hunting for the perfect hotels or bed and breakfasts, plan your “outfits of the days” and search for off-the-beaten-track experiences in a warm, tropical place away from cold Winnipeg winter.

We’ve all been there… but far too often, many of us forget to get travel insurance and realize a little too late when the need arises.

Travel Insurance Winnipeg: Better safe than sorry

Travel insurance is one of those things that fall under the analogy of “better safe than sorry.” Many of us often neglect it, until we need it.

We refuse to think about the possibilities of being in an accident or of getting sick while on a holiday, but it does happen, and unfortunately, far too often than we expect.

Of course, being sick or injured while traveling is the last thing that we expect to happen to us or any one of our loved ones but thinking that “it may not happen to me / us” doesn’t take away the risk.

Murphy’s law states that “things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance,” or more commonly, “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.”

What I’ve learned is that things happen and sometimes bad things do happen to good people; our only resort is to always have a financial safety net and like any insurance policy, a solid travel insurance that covers you and your loved ones throughout the length of your adventure is vital.

Being in an unfamiliar place, with no family or friends nearby, a medical emergency is often paired with exorbitantly high medical costs and it could drastically affect your financial situation.

If you’ve ever had encountered a medical emergency in the US, for example; you would know how much a day in the emergency room costs.

You may have a high credit limit in your credit card but covering the medical bills and incidental costs, such as prescription drugs, and ambulance on credit is a very bad financial decision. You can easily spend tens of thousands of your hard-earned dollars for emergency medical care.

I know, scary isn’t it? But we’re not here to scare you!

Those are facts and not far from real life; things like this happens all the time and hopefully not with you or your loved ones but if in the event of a worse case scenario that no ones hopes for, the important thing is that you and your loved ones are financially protected by a solid travel insurance policy.

Travel Insurance Winnipeg: Benefits

Implementing a travel insurance takes away the financial risks of unexpected travel emergency costs when the unexpected happens so you can focus on the more important things when you find yourself and loved ones caught in an emergency situation.

Travel Insurance Benefits:

Emergency Medical Coverage
Trip Cancellation

Emergency Medical Coverage

The most important benefit of an out of province or out of the country travel insurance is an emergency medical coverage.

When you’re travelling outside or even within Canada, there are some medical costs that may arise while you’re traveling that are not usually covered by Manitoba’s provincial health insurance.

An emergency medical travel insurance fully secures you and your loved ones from these emergency medical costs.

Coverage Includes:

Up to $5,000,000.00 worth of emergency medical coverage
24/7 world-class, multi-lingual travel assistance
In-hospital Care
- Covers hospital room charges (up to semi-private rooms) and hospital services and supplies necessary for the emergency care during hospitalization.
Medical Services
- Covers doctor fees for physician treatment costs
Diagnostic Services
- Covers the cost of x-rays and other diagnostic tests
Out-patient Medical Treatment
- Covers the cost of out-patient medical treatment.
Prescription Drugs
- Covers the prescription drugs and medication prescribed by the attending physician to a maximum 30 day prescription— lost, stolen or damaged prescriptions are also covered up to $50.
Rental of Essential Medical Expenses
- Expenses for the rental of essential medical appliances (wheelchair, crutches, canes etc.) when needed due to a medical emergency that occurred on your trip.
Emergency Dental Services
- Covers up to $2,000 for repair or replacement of natural teeth when caused by an accidental blow to the mouth—also covered $250 for the treatment and relief of dental pain for any dental emergency other than that caused by an accidental blow to the mouth.
Private Duty Nursing
- Covers the cost of private duty nursing up to $5,000 per person.
Health Practitioners
Covers up to $300 each for the emergency services of an osteopath, physiotherapist, chiropractor, chiropodist, and/or podiatrist.
Road Ambulance
- Covers 100% of emergency transport to a hospital.
Air Ambulance
- $20,000 coverage for helicopter air ambulance in a medical emergency involving life threatening circumstances where you require immediate transport to the nearest hospital with adequate facilities.
Remote Evacuation
- Covers expenses up to a maximum of $20,000 for your evacuation to the nearest hospital from a location inaccessible by road in a medical emergency involving life threatening circumstances.
Repatriation
- Covers charges for the use of an air ambulance or regularly scheduled airline to transport you back to your province of residence from outside of Canada for further in-hospital treatment.
Special Attendant
- Covers the cost of one return trip (economy-class airfare) for a medical attendant to accompany you back to your province of residence.
Return of Family Member
- Covers up to $1,000 for the cost of a one-way, economy-class airfare by the most direct route to the departure point for the return of one covered accompanying family member if GMS requires you to return to your province of residence for medical treatment, or in the event of your death.
Return & Escort of Dependent Child or Grandchild
- Covers the cost of one-way, economy-class airfare by the most direct route to return an accompanying child/children (up to the age of 18 years), and an escort when necessary, to the original point of departure.
Family or Friend to Bedside
- Covers up to $3,000 for the cost of a round-trip, economy-class airfare for one family member in the event you are hospitalized for at least 3 consecutive nights, as well as $150 a day up to $750 for the reasonable expenses incurred by the transported family member.
Family Member Airfare in the Event of Death
- Covers up to $2,000 for the cost of a single round trip, economy class airfare for a family member to identify the deceased, which includes up to $300 for meals and accommodations.
Return of Remains
- Covers up to $7,000 for the preparation and transportation of the deceased to his/her province of residence, or $3,000 for cremation or burial at the place of death.
Return of Vehicle
- Covers up to $2,000 for the cost of having your vehicle returned to your province of residence when you or your traveling companions are unable to do so, due to emergency treatment.
Return of Cat or Dog
- Covers up to $300 for the cost of returning your cat or dog to your province of residence, in the instance that GMS returns you to your province of residence for further in-hospital medical treatment.
Child Care
- Covers up to $500 for licensed care for a dependant traveling with you in the instance that you are hospitalized for 48 hours or more.
Out of Pocket Expenses
Covers up to $150 per day to a maximum of $1,000, for accommodations, meals, necessary telephone calls, and taxi or bus fares incurred by an accompanying family member in the event you are hospitalized on the scheduled date of your return to Canada.
Coverage Continuation
- Your policy coverage will continue uninterrupted when returning to your destination if you had to unexpectedly return to your province of residence during your trip.

Trip Cancellation

Delays and cancellations are one of those things that are beyond our control when we’re travelling.

Adding a trip cancellation benefit saves you from the costs of trip cancellation, interuption or delay that may occur during your travel.

The trip cancellation coverage covers you from items such as non-refundable airfare, pre-paid travel arrangements and any cancellation penalties.

In the event your trip is interrupted after leaving, you’ll be covered for items like transportation to rejoin tour groups or the cost of out-of-pocket expenses during longer delays (such as meals, accommodations, telephone calls and taxi fares). Plus, if your personal belongings are delayed, lost or damaged, you’ll be covered by the baggage benefit that’s included at no extra cost with our Trip Cancellation Coverage.