Not all international students in Canada have access to public health care. In provinces and territories where international students are not covered under public health care plans, students must pay for private health insurance.
The Canadian Health Coalition (CHC) and the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre (MVMJC) have just launched a new report titled: Free and universal? Disparities in international student health care in Canada to track this issue nation-wide.
On January 29th, the report was launched with a webinar.
As Provincial Director of MHC, I joined the panel along with MHC’s secretary and SPCW community animator, Hafiz Jatto, a former international student, to share our perspectives and call for the restoration of public funding for international students in Manitoba. Local organizers from the UWSA, Omega Budhathoki and Alan Saji Koshy were also on the panel and shared their experiences as international students and advocates. Listen to this powerful and informative discussion below:
As the report itself and local advocates have long emphasized, Manitoba is currently dead last in terms of provincial access to public health care for international students. The NDP promised to restore public funding for these students while in Opposition, after the PCs cut the program in 2018. This commitment was also enshrined in the Minister of Advanced Education and Training’s mandate letter when the NDP took office in 2023.
Now, early into 2026, this promise has yet to be fulfilled, with no clear timeline for when the program will be restored. The government remains adamant in their commitment to restoring public coverage for international students, but this commitment must translate into action. Public health care for international students must be fully and swiftly restored.
In this call to action, MHC endorses the recommendations in the CHC and MVMJC’s new report – including the immediate enrollment of international students into provincial Medicare systems upon arrival.