what does the northern ontario travel grant cover

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Northern Ontario Travel Grant: Everything You Need To Know

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what does the northern ontario travel grant cover

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News Release

Ontario Connecting People in the North to the Care They Need

$45 million investment in the Northern Health Travel Grant to make it easier to access specialized care and services

April 30, 2024

Quick facts, additional resources, related topics.

THUNDER BAY — As part of the Ontario government’s 2024 Ontario Budget , the province is investing $45 million over three years to expand the Northern Health Travel Grant Program to help people in Northern Ontario connect to the specialized care and services they need.

“Our government knows that for too long, patients in Northern Ontario have faced unique challenges when accessing health care and that is why our government is taking action to expand access to care, in every corner of the province,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Our investment to expand and enhance the Northern Health Travel Grant, will ensure more people in Northern Ontario can connect to the specialized care they need, when they need it.”

The Northern Health Travel Grant provides financial reimbursements that help cover the medical-related costs Northern Ontario residents can incur when travelling to access OHIP-insured health care services that are not available within a 100-kilometre radius of where they live. These include specialist visits and some diagnostic services.

The province will begin implementing expansions and improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant Program starting in Fall 2024 including:

Introducing a more convenient online application form that includes digital receipt submissions and makes reimbursement faster.
Eliminating the need for a signature from the referring health care provider, making the application process easier.
Adding more eligible health care providers and more facility locations, such as community laboratories, to help more people get reimbursed for their incurred costs.
Removing the 100-kilometre deductible so people are reimbursed for every kilometre travelled to help offset higher gas prices.

New changes are also increasing reimbursements for overnight trips for the first time since 2017 to better reflect people’s needs and increased costs, including:

Increasing the accommodation allowance from $100 to $175 per night, as well as increasing the total allowance for eight or more nights from $550 to $1,150.
Reducing the travel distance requirement to be eligible for overnight accommodation allowance from 200 kilometres to 100 kilometres.
Expanding eligibility to include medical travel companions accompanying a patient who is hospitalized.

“The Northern Health Travel Grant plays a vital role in mitigating the financial burden of medical‐related travel for the people of Ontario in Northern communities,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “This enhancement in Ontario’s 2024 Budget is part of our plan to support health care in northern and rural communities.”

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care , the Ontario government is making it easier and faster for people to connect to the care they need, when they need it, no matter where they live.

This investment was announced as part of the 2024 Ontario Budget , to help support health care access for the people of Northern Ontario.
In 2022-2023, approximately 170,000 Northern Health Travel Grants were processed to support the travel and accommodation needs of approximately 66,000 Northern Ontario residents.
98 per cent of eligible applications for the Northern Health Travel Grant are paid within four to six weeks. The new, online submission form is expected to further reduce processing time.
The Ministry of Health also provides a telephone support service to help clients who need help completing their applications. The number to call for assistance is 1-800-262-6524.

"I am pleased to see the improvements our government is making to update the Northern Health Travel Grant. As an advocate for Northern Ontario, I understand the importance of providing support for our constituents to access vital healthcare services across the province. This increased funding ensures our residents can focus on their health care needs and not the additional burden of travel expenses." - Kevin Holland MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan

"Our government is responding to the increased travel costs for health care services and programs in the Northwest. In the Kenora and Rainy River districts, we travel as much if not more for health-related services than anyone in the region. As a Northerner, I’ve experienced the process and increased costs firsthand. This expansion will come as a tremendous relief to my constituents." - Greg Rickford MPP for Kenora-Rainy River

"I am proud to be a part of a government that is sticking up for northerners and ensuring that we receive and have access to the care we need by expanding the Northern Health Travel Grant Program. Our investment of $45 million over the next three years will help the people in our community and those across the north facing unique healthcare challenges get the specialized care they deserve." - George Pirie MPP for Timmins

"For years, my constituents in Nipissing have expressed their concerns over the Northern Health Travel Grants reimbursement rates. We are pleased that our government has heard their concerns. Through the program’s $45 million expansion, patients in Northern Ontario will have additional assistance to the health care services they require." - Vic Fedeli MPP for Nipissing

"The expansion of the Northern Health Travel Grant is excellent news for the residents of East and West Parry Sound. Our government is ensuring that Northern Ontario residents have access to the services and resources they require. We're prioritizing the North by making smart and strategic investments that improve health outcomes while making life less expensive." - Graydon Smith MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka

"The enhancements made by our government will be a significant benefit to the residents of the Township of South Algonquin in my riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke." - John Yakabuski MPP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke

Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care
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Province expanding Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program

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THUNDER BAY – The province is expanding the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program to cover more costs incurred by patients needing eligible out-of-town care.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones on Tuesday revealed details of the revamped plan at a stop at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, announcing they have increased the overnight accommodation allowance from $100 a night to $175, and from $550 to $1,050 for stays of eight nights or longer.

The government also reduced the travel distance requirements from 200 kilometres round trip to 100 kilometres and have expanded the eligibility to cover costs of medical travel companions accompanying a patient requiring hospitalization.

The province plans to provide $45 million over three years to fund the program.

Jones said the goal is to provide Northern Ontarians with a better health-care experience, acknowledging residents often don’t have access to a full suite of medical services in their home communities, especially in sparsely populated regions in the Northwest.

That shouldn’t mean accessing health care needs to be a financial burden, the minister said, calling it another step toward connecting people in the region to the specialized health care they need.

“These programs provide financial reimbursement that helps cover the medical related costs Northern Ontario residents have incurred while travelling to access OHIP-insured health-care services that are not available within a 100-kilometre radius of where they live,” Jones said.

“The province will begin implementing expansions and needed improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant program starting this fall.”

The changes will also include a more convenient, online application form, that includes digital receipt submission capabilities, allowing for faster reimbursements and eliminates the need for a signature from a referring physician or health-care provider.

The expansion also adds more health-care partners to the program, as well as community labs, to help more people get reimbursed for their costs.

“(We’ve also) removed the 100-kilometre deductible so people can get reimbursed for every kilometre travelled, to offset higher gas prices. These changes are also increasing reimbursements for overnight trips, to better reflect people’s needs and increased costs,” Jones said.

Paul Carr, a patient advocate at Thunder Bay Regional, said he welcomes the new changes, noting the care needed, including cardiac surgery, isn't always available close to home.

“Sometimes (patients) face many barriers in terms of accessing care. When you have to travel long distances to attend appointments or receive specialized care or surgeries, it would be great if patients could access the same level of care and services throughout the province, but we know that’s not the case right now,” Carr said.

“Some of our patients have to travel for excess care and this can be a daunting experience. For some it might be the first time they’ve ever travelled to an urban centre.”

Every little bit helps, Carr said.

NDP MPP Lise Vaugeois applauded the changes, calling the move good news for Northern Ontarians, in particular the removal of the 100-kilometre deductible for the gas repayment. However, Vaugeois said the province could have gone further and increased the mileage rate from the current 41 cents a kilometre.

“I think we get roughly 61 cents a kilometre as MPPs,” Vaugeois said. “It’s miles from where it needs to be to cover the cost.”

She added the hotel accommodation rate falls a bit short of the actual cost of rooms, especially in centres like Toronto.

The spending was previously announced in the 2024 Ontario budget.

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Big Changes To Northern Travel Grant Announced

As part of the Ontario government’s 2024 Ontario Budget , the province is investing $45 million over three years to expand the Northern Health Travel Grant Program to help people in Northern Ontario connect to the specialized care and services they need.

The province will begin implementing expansions and improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant Program starting in Fall 2024 including:

Introducing a more convenient online application form that includes digital receipt submissions and makes reimbursement faster.
Eliminating the need for a signature from the referring health care provider, making the application process easier.
Adding more eligible health care providers and more facility locations, such as community laboratories, to help more people get reimbursed for their incurred costs.
Removing the 100-kilometre deductible so people are reimbursed for every kilometre travelled to help offset higher gas prices.

New changes are also increasing reimbursements for overnight trips for the first time since 2017 to better reflect people’s needs and increased costs, including:

Increasing the accommodation allowance from $100 to $175 per night, as well as increasing the total allowance for eight or more nights from $550 to $1,150.
Reducing the travel distance requirement to be eligible for overnight accommodation allowance from 200 kilometres to 100 kilometres.
Expanding eligibility to include medical travel companions accompanying a patient who is hospitalized.

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Province boosts northern travel grant, eases restrictions, increases payouts

The Ontario government is spending $45 million in the next three years to improve access and funding for the northern travel grant.

The grant repays northerners part of the costs when they have to travel south for specialized treatment. Opposition parties have long called for improvements to the system, particularly as the cost of travel and lodgings has soared in recent years.

Tuesday, the province said it was creating a more convenient online application form that makes getting reimbursed faster.

The government is also “eliminating the need for a signature from the referring health care provider, making the application process easier,” a news release said.

“Adding more eligible health care providers and more facility locations, such as community laboratories, to help more people get reimbursed for their incurred costs.”

Other changes include removing the 100-kilometre deductible so people are reimbursed for every kilometre travelled to help offset higher gas prices. And for the first time since 2017, reimbursements for overnight trips are being increased.

The accommodation allowance is rising from $100 to $175 per night, and the total allowance for eight or more nights is rising from $550 to $1,150.

And the travel distance requirement to be eligible for overnight accommodation allowance is being cut from 200 kilometres to 100 kilometres.

In 2022-2023, approximately 170,000 travel grants were processed for 66,000 northern Ontario residents.

A total of 98 per cent of eligible applications for the grant are paid within four to six weeks. The new, online submission form is expected to further reduce processing time.

The Ministry of Health also provides a telephone support service to help clients who need help completing their applications. The number to call for assistance is 1-800-262-6524.

"I am proud to be a part of a government that is sticking up for northerners and ensuring that we receive and have access to the care we need,” Timmins MPP George Pirie is quoted as saying in the release.

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"For years, my constituents in Nipissing have expressed their concerns over the Northern Health Travel Grants reimbursement rates,” added Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.

“We are pleased that our government has heard their concerns. Through the program’s $45 million expansion, patients in northern Ontario will have additional assistance to the health care services they require."

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807-227-2339, click here to view our facebook page, travel grants, how the travel grant program works.

For eligible applicants, travel grants are based on the distance to their closest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility able to provide the required health care services.

An applicant must travel at least 100 kilometres (km) one-way to access the closest medical specialist, or ministry funded health care facility services that are not available locally.

What costs does the NHTG program help pay?

Travel: Whether you drive or travel by commercial means, travel grants are always paid at 41 cents per kilometre (based on return road distance travel), between your area of residence and the location of the nearest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility that can provide the required OHIP-insured service. There is a deductible of 100 kilometres on your trip.

Refer to the question & answer under the section: “How is the travel grant calculated” for further information.

Accommodation Allowance

For patients whose medical specialist services or ministry funded health care facility-based procedures are provided before November 1, 2017, the NHTG Program offers an accommodation allowance of $100.00 per eligible treatment trip to patients who:

meet travel grant eligibility criteria;

travel one-way road distance of at least 200 kilometres to the closest specialist or ministry funded health care facility that is able to provide the required services (e.g. hospital for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)) and;

submit an accommodation receipt in their names or have their name on the receipts as a guest to prove they paid an accommodation expense. For an individual under the age of 18, an accommodation allowance receipt can be in the name of his/her parent/guardian.

For services provided on, or after November 1, 2017, eligible patients may receive an additional accommodation allowance. The medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility they are referred to, will determine if it is necessary for them to spend more than one lodging night out-of-town (in order to access medical specialist services or ministry funded health care facility-based procedures). If this occurs, the necessary number of lodging nights will be specified by the patient in section 1 of the NHTG application and by the medical specialist/or ministry funded health care facility provider in section 3 of the NHTG application form, or they can write a letter to the NHTG Program stating: “in their professional judgement, the accommodation allowance of greater than one lodging night is necessary to access an out-of-town medical specialist health care services, or ministry funded health care facility-based procedure.”

This letter must be submitted along with an application form to qualify for more than one lodging night’s allowance per treatment trip. Refer to the additional accommodation allowance schedule below.

For patients whose medical specialist services or ministry funded health care facility-based procedures are provided on or after November 1, 2017, the additional accommodation allowance per treatment trip is:

$100 per lodging night up to 2 lodging nights

$250 for 3 lodging nights

$500 for 4-7 lodging nights

$550 for 8 or more lodging nights

Will the NHTG Program cover all my travel costs?

No. The grant helps you pay for some medical travel related costs, but does not cover all expenses, such as meals.

How is the travel grant calculated?

Your travel grant is calculated based on the distance to the closest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility. The one-way road distance is multiplied by 2, a deductible of 100 kilometres is subtracted, then the remaining distance is multiplied by 41 cents per kilometre to determine the grant amount. For commercial travel (air, bus, rail) you must provide an original ticket, receipt or itinerary showing a fare paid, who is travelling, the date of the travel and destination. Do not submit meal or gas receipts as these are not required initially and will not be returned. Please keep them until after your application is processed, in the event the ministry asks for them to support your travel.

The grant is the two-way distance minus 100km, multiplied by 41 cents per km.

Example One Eligible Grant from Point A to Point B (one-way distance = 160km): The grant is the two-way distance minus 100km multiplied by 41 cents per km - i.e. (160 x 2) - 100) x 0.41 = $90.20.

Example Two Eligible Grant from Point C to Point D (one-way distance = 300km)

Travel Grant Calculation is ((300km x 2) - 100) x 0.41 = $205.00

Accommodation allowance = $100.00

Total payment to the patient for the trip from C to D = (1) + (2) = $205 + $100 = $305.00

Example Three Eligible Grant from Point C to Point D (one-way distance = 300km) and specialist/ministry funded health care facility provider determines in section 3, that three lodging nights are necessary

Accommodation allowance = $250.00

Total payment to the patient for the trip from C to D = (1) + (2) = $205 + $250 = $455.00

You do not qualify for a travel grant if:

the health care service is not an OHIP- insured benefit

the care is related to a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board claim

your employer pays for your medical services and/or travel costs

another government program or organization pays for your travel e.g.: First Nations Band/Federal Government, etc.

the health care services have to do with a private insurance company - for example there is third party liability for medical travel costs, such as medical services related to a motor vehicle accident

you travel round trip by ambulance

the health care service is provided by a non-Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) certified medical specialist, and/or non-RCPSC certified physician in Winnipeg (Manitoba) who is not enrolled on the Manitoba Health Specialist Register; or the health care service is provided by a physician who does not hold a specialist certificate of registration issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in a recognized medical or surgical specialty other than family or general practice, or service is not provided in a ministry funded health care facility

the nearest specialist or ministry funded health care facility is within 100 kilometres of your area of residence

Note: If you travel one way by ambulance and the other way by car or public transportation, you may qualify for a partial grant.

What if my application for an NHTG grant is denied?

You can request an internal review, or reconsideration within 12 months from the date provided on the denial letter mailed to you. Please follow the information and instructions in the denial letter.

If there are exceptional medical circumstances surrounding your treatment trip that may allow an exception to the program eligibility criteria, you may appeal your denial decision to the external and independent NHTG Medical Appeals Committee in writing to:

Medical Appeals Committee Care of: Northern Health Programs 159 Cedar Street, Suite 402 Sudbury, ON P3E 6A5 705-564-7280 1-866-727-9959

Do not apply for a travel grant when:

you travel to an out-of-town medical specialist when a local physician (less than 100 km from your area of residence) can perform the same service

your trip is for something other than health care

another agency or government program pays for your travel

you are travelling to visit a sick relative in hospital

your travel is not within Ontario or Manitoba

Who is eligible for a travel grant?

You are eligible if all of the conditions below are met:

you are an OHIP-insured Ontario resident on the date of treatment, and your primary place of residence is in the districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, or Timiskaming

a northern physician, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, midwife or nurse practitioner has referred you before the travel takes place

you are referred to a medical specialist who is certified by The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), or recognized by one of the Physician Governing bodies below:

a Winnipeg (Manitoba) physician enrolled on the Manitoba Health Specialist Register and permitted to bill as a specialist;

a physician who holds a specialist certificate of registration issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in a recognized medical or surgical specialty other than family or general practice

you are referred for a ministry funded health care facility-based procedure under the Health Insurance Act performed by a provider in the facility (e.g. a midwife for hospital childbirth; technician for PET scan, or chemotherapy); or you are referred for a ministry-funded health care facility-based service/procedure

the nearest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility able to provide the type of care or procedure you require in Ontario or Manitoba is at least 100 kilometres from your area of residence

If you do not have a northern referring provider, you may still qualify for a travel grant. Please contact the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Claims Services Branch, at (705) 675-4010, or 1 800-461-4006 for more information.

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Province expanding Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program

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THUNDER BAY – The province is expanding the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program to cover more costs incurred by patients needing eligible out-of-town care.

The province plans to provide $45 million over three years to fund the program.

That shouldn’t mean accessing health care needs to be a financial burden, the minister said, calling it another step toward connecting people in the region to the specialized health care they need.

“The province will begin implementing expansions and needed improvements to the Northern Health Travel Grant program starting this fall.”

The expansion also adds more health-care partners to the program, as well as community labs, to help more people get reimbursed for their costs.

Paul Carr, a patient advocate at Thunder Bay Regional, said he welcomes the new changes, noting the care needed, including cardiac surgery, isn't always available close to home.

“Some of our patients have to travel for excess care and this can be a daunting experience. For some it might be the first time they’ve ever travelled to an urban centre.”

Every little bit helps, Carr said.

“I think we get roughly 61 cents a kilometre as MPPs,” Vaugeois said. “It’s miles from where it needs to be to cover the cost.”

She added the hotel accommodation rate falls a bit short of the actual cost of rooms, especially in centres like Toronto.

The spending was previously announced in the 2024 Ontario budget.

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Central Forms Repository (CFR)

Ministry of Health
Application for Northern...
English - 0327-88e -...

English - 0327-88e - Application for Northern...

URL: https://forms.mgcs.gov.on.ca/dataset/0f091751-0299-429a-b6a7-30a53cc8e859/resource/fd31c9a7-d6b6-4eac-945c-a870f982d3d6/download/0327-88e.pdf

Dataset description:

Used to apply for financial travel assistance by Northern Ontario residents who must travel long distances to access medical specialist services.

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Your Health Travel Companion Program Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG)

Greetings, travelers!

We know that accessing medical specialist services in Northern Ontario can be quite a journey. That's why Kasper Transportations is here to share some exciting news about the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program. Get ready to embark on a smoother, more affordable, and stress-free healthcare adventure!

What is the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program?

The NHTG Program is designed to help Northern Ontario residents who must travel long distances (at least 100 kilometers one-way) to reach medical specialist services or ministry funded health care facilities. If you qualify for the program, the Ministry of Health provides funding to cover a portion of your travel expenses.

Read on Official Ministry of Health resource

How does the travel grant program work.

Great question! The NHTG Program offers financial assistance to cover travel costs based on the distance between your home and the nearest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility. Whether you drive or use commercial transportation, you'll be reimbursed at 41 cents per kilometer (round-trip), after subtracting a deductible of 100 kilometers.

For example, if your one-way distance is 160 kilometers, the grant calculation would be ((160 x 2) - 100) x 0.41 = $90.20.

Accommodation Allowance: Rest Easy on Your Trip

When you need to travel at least 200 kilometers one-way to access a medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility, you might be eligible for an accommodation allowance. This helps cover your lodging expenses during the trip. The amount of the allowance varies based on the number of necessary lodging nights required by your healthcare provider.

For instance, the accommodation allowance can range from $100 for up to 2 lodging nights to $550 for 8 or more lodging nights. Remember, you must provide an accommodation receipt in your name to qualify for this allowance.

Who Qualifies for the Travel Grant?

To be eligible for the NHTG Program, you should meet the following criteria:

You are an OHIP-insured Ontario resident residing in specific Northern Ontario districts.
A healthcare provider from Northern Ontario has referred you to a certified medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility that is at least 100 kilometers away from your residence.

How to Apply?

Applying for the travel grant is a breeze! Just follow these steps:

Obtain the NHTG application form from your northern health care provider or online.
Fill out all required information in section 1 of the application form.
If you need a referral, get it from your northern health care provider. You typically need a new referral for each different specialist or health care facility.
Ensure your medical specialist or ministry funded health care provider completes section 3 of the application form, including the necessary number of lodging nights for your trip.
Submit your application form along with travel and accommodation receipts, if applicable, to the Ministry of Health, Claims Services Branch office in Sudbury.

Lastly: Your Journey, Our Mission

At Kasper Transportations, we're thrilled to share this incredible opportunity to make your healthcare travel experience easier. The Northern Health Travel Grant Program is your health travel companion, ensuring that you can access the medical services you need without overwhelming expenses.

If you have any questions or need assistance with the application process, reach out to the Ministry of Health . We're here to support you on your journey to better health and wellbeing!

Please note that the information provided in this blog post is based on the Northern Health Travel Grant Program as of the knowledge cutoff date in 2 August 2023. For the most up-to-date information, refer to the official Ministry of Health resources .

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Changes coming to travel grant program

Several changes are being made to the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant.

The program reimburses people who have to travel to access healthcare not available in their community.

Beginning this fall , the province will begin implementing the changes that will include an online application form that provides for digital receipt submissions to make reimbursement fast.

The need for a signature from the referring healthcare provider will be eliminated , and more eligible healthcare providers and locations will be added .

The government also plans to remove the 100-kilometre deductible, allowing people to be reimbursed for every kilometre they travel.

The accommodation allowance for overnight trips is increased from $100 to $175 per night, with the allowance for stays eight days or longer going from $550 to $1,150.

The travel distance requirement to be eligible for accommodation allowance will be reduced from 200 kilometres to 100 kilometres.

“We know that for too long, patients in northern Ontario have faced unique challenges when accessing healthcare,” says Jones.

“That is why our government is asking and putting in action to expand access to care in every corner of Ontario. And our investments to expand and enhance the Northern Health travel grant will ensure more people in northern Ontario can connect to the specialized care they need when they need it .”

The government is setting aside $45 million over three years to implement the changes.

In 2022-23, approximately 170,000 Northern Health Travel Grants were processed to support approximately 66,000 northern Ontario residents.

The Ministry says 98% of eligible applications were paid within four to six weeks.

Despite Ontario’s Northern Health Travel Grant, some still pay out of pocket

When Nan Normand’s husband had quintuple bypass surgery, it cost them $1,500. It wasn’t the operation that was pricey, but the travel. The couple went from Kenora, a small city near the Ontario-Manitoba border, to Hamilton for the surgery. The trek included flights and a multiple-night stay.

Normand was unlucky: Manitoba had temporarily stopped accepting most Ontario heart patients, so they couldn’t go to the much closer Winnipeg, and they were delayed by about three days by an ice storm once they hit Hamilton.

But the Normands aren’t the only ones paying significant out-of-pocket costs for health care. Patients in parts of Northern Ontario often travel upwards of 100 kilometres for surgery, procedures like chemotherapy or to see specialists.

The Northern Health Travel Grant helps offset some of the costs that come with that, with the goal of increasing access to care for people in those areas. Yet it doesn’t cover everything. Normand and her husband received $2,625 from the program, about $1,500 of which was for her husband, with the rest for her costs as his companion. Despite staying in a $40-a-night medical hostel, “our true expenses were approximately $1,500 over that,” she says. “The only way we were able to do it is because we’re middle income and we have credit cards.”

Increasing access to services

Normand is one of the over 200,000 Ontarians who apply for assistance every year. The program, which costs the province $53 million a year, is available to people living in 10 districts , including Kenora, Manitoulin, Parry Sound, Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The average reimbursement is $272.

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The grant helps residents from those areas who are referred to specialists or need services that aren’t available locally. They have to go to the closest option, which might mean Manitoba for some. They are reimbursed 41 cents per kilometre after the first 100 kilometres for travel, and an extra $100 for accommodation if the closest option is more than 200 kilometres away. One companion can also apply for a grant.

Other provinces have similar programs, including Manitoba, Newfoundland and the Northwest Territories. In B.C., the Travel Assistance Program offers discounted rates at hotels and subsidized transportation . Others places, including Alberta, don’t offer any reimbursement.

Ontario’s program started in 1985 as a set rate based on the distance from the patient’s residence to the treatment centre or specialist. Since then, it has seen a number of changes : In 1991, concerned that the grant was encouraging patients to travel south instead of seeing northern specialists, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care reduced the minimum one-way distance to 100 kilometres in Northern Ontario or Manitoba, and 200 kilometres in the rest of Ontario. And in 1994, it was modified so patients had to see the closest specialist. In 2007, the government increased the mileage allowance to 41 cents per kilometre, up from 34.25 cents. They also added $100 for accommodation for each trip.

The grant made headlines in 2000, when a group of patients filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission (it was settled or withdrawn beforehand, never being heard by the tribunal, but that year, the minister of Health and Long-Term Care promised to review both programs ). They argued it was unfair that Cancer Care Ontario covered food, hotel and transportation costs for patients from Southern Ontario, while the Northern Health Travel Grant only covered a portion. The Cancer Care program was much smaller, only covering patients who were referred away from their home centre for radiation treatment.

Is it time to raise the rates?

Though the grant reimburses some of the costs, it’s not meant to cover everything. There’s no payback for meals, and the $100 accommodation allowance is a flat rate, whether you stay one night or a week.

“It’s not based on any rational formula that I can see,” says Carolyn Hudson, a friend of Normand who also lives in Kenora and has used the grant. “Give me a mileage plus accommodation that actually covers it, that isn’t just a figure someone in Toronto has picked out of the air.”

People who can’t afford the travel skip services, ask their doctors if there for other options, or hold barbecues or dances to raise the money. France Gelinas, MPP and the NDP Health and Long-Term Care critic, says she hears of fundraisers for families who can’t afford their part of travel expenses at least once a month.

“The goal of it is good, it helps a bit, but it still leaves serious barriers to access for many families,” says Gelinas, who believes the payback amounts are now out of date. “If the goal of the program was to address some of the barriers to access, then over time some of those barriers have grown back.”

There’s also the issue of how long it takes to get paid back. The government announced it would try and make payments faster in 2007, and it says it now takes four to six weeks for people to be reimbursed.

But Michael Mantha, MPP for Algoma-Manitoulin, says it often takes longer, and that the turnaround time is creating difficulties for people

It sometimes takes as long as six months for people to be reimbursed, he says. “When you’re on a fixed income or a very low income [and these funds are delayed], it’s very difficult to make ends meet,” he says. He’s thinks it’s particularly difficult for patients who undergo regular treatment, like chemotherapy, and have to re-apply for the grant every time.

The ministry says cases are processed within the six-week timeframe, with the exception of “a small number of circumstances where an application was not completed properly or where eligibility comes into question.” Phil Graham, director in Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, also points out that non-profit organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society, the Kidney Foundation and Ontario Works front travel grant money to needy recipients, then collect the funds from the government afterwards.

The Ontario Ombudsman receives about 11 complaints a year about the travel grant; in 2013/14, they had seven. They’re mostly around people who have been denied coverage, says Linda Williamson, director of communications for the Ombudsman. A recent example was a woman who had to travel 193 km for a colonoscopy and couldn’t get the accommodation allowance because she was under the 200 km minimum. “We spoke to the ministry about this, and said that they needed to be more flexible about what was covered,” says Williamson.

The ministry is now developing an independent Medical Appeals Review Committee that will look at denied applications upon request. (Right now, an internal review committee does this and makes sure the policy wasn’t misinterpreted and the person wasn’t wrongfully denied reimbursement.) That new committee will look for cases that warrent exceptions, so people will have another option than the Ombudsman.

Replacing travel with telemedicine

One option for patients who have to travel long distances is to try telemedicine instead.

The Ontario Telemedicine Network has encouraged doctors and patients to do just that. A marketing campaign is underway that promotes telemedicine to care providers, with a focus on follow-up visits. The Ontario Medical Association and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care have worked with the telemedicine network to help increase awareness of the option.

“A lot of travel grants are provided for the purposes of follow up care,” says Rob Williams, chief medical officer for the network. “And there’s usually minimal to no physical examination.” If a physical exam is needed, a nurse in the patient’s town can provide it and report back to the specialist during the appointment.

Initial consultations, pre-surgical assessments and pre-op assessments also work well virtually, says Williams.

Telemedicine means patients who would normally use the grant save time and cut down on their expenses, says Williams, whose patients have told him the grant covers at best 20% to 25% of the cost to them. “From a clinical perspective, they’re getting equal value and equal clinical attention, so it’s probably the same, just a lot more convenient.”

A special agreement in place with Manitoba ensures patients can access the same specialists they would regularly see, even if they’re in places like Winnipeg, through telemedicine.

Part of what needs to be done, says Gelinas, is for doctors in Southern Ontario to be more aware of the lengths patients from parts of Northern Ontario must go to for their appointments, so the doctors can think about other options like virtual consultations.

Williams agrees. Physicians in the north are “quite aware of the travel burden,” he says. “But in southern Ontario, there still is work to be done.”

Vanessa Milne

Contributor

Vanessa is a freelance health journalist and a form staff writer with Healthy Debate

Joshua Tepper

Joshua Tepper is a family physician and the President and Chief Executive Officer of North York General Hospital. He is also a member of the Healthy Debate editorial board.

Gord Winkel

Gord Winkel is the Chair and Industrial Professor for the Safety and Risk Management Program in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta and an Editor of Healthy Debate.

Republish this article on your website under the creative commons licence.

The comments section is closed.

I am getting ready to travel from Kenora to London Ontario for surgery. Distance of 3444 km return. My husband will be travelling with me as mu companion. We will be required to be there the night before my surgery and will have to stay at least 4 nights maybe more in London. The basic allowance of 100.00 per day does not cover hotel costs not to mention meals for two people three times a day. The 41cents per km will help with the travel expense to and from London but it will cost us money out of our pockets due to the fact Manitoba will not accept Ontario Patients in a timely fashion to have emergency surgery done to avoid a possible death without surgery. We all live in Canada yet there seems to be a very large device between Manitoba health and Ontario health, why?

My doctor’s receptionist will not fill in the Northern doctor’s portion until I return it with the specialist’s info completed. This makes no sense to me as 1. the northern doctor must refer me to the specialist 2. I must make an extra trip to my primary physician to return the form

Parking fees at the specialist’s office are often very pricey, but not covered

I think it is time for the rate to be reviewed and become more in line to the $.59 paid to government workers.

In addition it takes too long to get reimbursed right now I am waiting 10 weeks

Well 3 months wait for our 3 visits to Hamilton. This getting stupid now.

Single people who have lost their spouse have their income drastically decreased with the loss of a major pension. These people really suffer as they are old and have no to supplement their income. They should have special consideration.

Having surgery in Ottawa. The problem is that a few days before the surgery I have to have CT. Staying with someone about 2 hours away from Ottawa. So have to make multiple trips back and forth but Grant only covers the major trip. Because I am traveling in Eastern Ontario and I am a Northern, Was told there is no grant for eastern ontario travel. But I am still a northerner that has to make a couple of smaller trips that are not covered.

when you travel from sheguiandah on. to Toronto, the cost of a room is $120.00 min. +room tax ,city tax, most charge for parking, food is 20% higher. Total for two days =$360.00

We live in Elliot Lake and remain totally perplexed by the unreasonable inflexibility of the NHTG system. For example, part of my prostate cancer treatment involved daily Mon-Fri radiation treatment at Heath Sciences North in Sudbury for eight weeks. Because I was not deemed to qualify for the then $100 daily accommodation allowance I was expected to drive a daily round trip of 4-5 hours, receiving $90.20 each day; $451 a week. If the accommodation allowance was available and paid I would have only needed only $590.20 a week in total. Needless to say the stress of driving about 10,000 km for radion alone does irreparable health damage to a 77 year old!

It’s better than nothing. Stop complaining before we end up with 0$ along with the other 90% of the planet,

If you do not have a family doctor in Northern Ontario or cannot see a doctor in a timely manner in Northern Ontario, which is so often the case, and you see a doctor in Southern Ontario who makes a referral to a specialist, you are ineligible for the travel grant because the referring physician is from Southern Ontario. I feel this is an unjust situation and it is the situation that I have found myself in. I went to the Emergency Room to ask them to please fill out the travel grant for me so I could get a small amount of compensation, and they 1) rudely scolded me for going to the emergency room for a non-emergency issue, even though my family doctor cannot see me for three weeks and the only walk-in clinic in the city turned me away because they had already seen 24 people, and 2) refused to sign the form because they were not the referring physician. How do they expect your referring physician to always be from the North when you have so few options for receiving care in the North and they scold you every time you go to the Emergency Room for a non-emergency issue? Aside from having limited options for care in the North, I am very uncomfortable seeking services in my city because I am treated poorly, not given adequate assistance, there is a serious lack of pain management services, my privacy is not respected, and I give out information to health care providers only for that information to be used against me in the future leading to a serious lack of trust. Please change the process so that it is no longer necessary for the referring physician to be from Northern Ontario. My sister still had to drive me five hours to my appointment in Southern Ontario if it is a referring physician from Northern Ontario or not because I live in Northern Ontario.

Another important thing to mention is that even when it is in the patient’s best interest for the patient to be referred to someone in Southern Ontario, the Northern Ontario physician feels strong pressure to keep the business in Northern Ontario, so will likely not refer to someone in the South, and thus the patient suffers unnecessarily.

10 yrs since mileage chg increased…why..with the cost of gas? $100 for hotel room in Toronto area…none avail for that price that you would want to stay in..most people who travel to Toronto area will need to stay more than one night…why not per night allowance of $100. No meal allowances! As with everything else…all considerations for south are priority…for the north…not so much! Give your head a shake!

I have a tooth which broke away from a large filling and it broke up in the gum. Our local dentist took and xray and it showed that my root on that tooth is bent and the sinus cavity has fallen down to rest on the root of that tooth. She has referred me to an Oral Surgeon in Thunder Bay (a 4 1/2 hour drive away). He is doing a consultation and the surgery all on one day as I am traveling so far. My issues are that even though I am on a blood thinner he is not doing surgery at the hospital for lack of an operating room. Also, the travel grant will not cover this trip at all. I will need to travel up the day prior to seeing him because otherwise it would mean I need to drive on winter roads in the dark and I am a nervous winter driver. I need to stay in Thunder Bay 24 hours after surgery to be sure I do not have hemorrhaging at the surgery site while on the Trans Canada miles from a hospital. I cannot understand why this trip is not covered as it is not something which my local dentist is qualified to do and I am being forced to stay for 2 nights out of town, have meals away from home and pay fuel and wear and tear on my vehicle too. Are these not things which the travel grant has been set up for?

The Travel Grant is unbalanced for those from NW ontario requiring surgery just as the Cancer Travel grant was unbalanced in favour of those from Southern Ont. Both groups are from the same Province, and pay the same taxes, but those in NWO suffer from a two-tier system!

The grant doesn’t even begin to cover the expenses when it only allows for a one night stay in sOnt. regardless of the number of nights spent away. The $100 allowance is also ridiculous when you are being seen in TO or London where there are simply NO rooms in that price range. Travel from nOnt. to sOnt. for surgery requires patients to see specialists pre and post operation which means a minimum of 3 nights……how is $100 fair? … and one is not allowed even a basic meal allowance?, …also hard on the patients who probably would prefer to be anywhere else but where they are. It is like they are being punished for needing medical care. As the companion to a travelling patient I found it very stressful trying to keep costs down and yet make her trip as comfortable as possible. I think this program needs a serious overhaul……you either scrap it altogether and just admit the government is not in the business of helping people access specialties in medicine, or cover in full the expenses that are incurred.

The program could be tweaked very easily but not a priority for the liberal govt..totally concentrated on s ont and gta. Their money is to be spent there and only there. Don’t stop addressing it with them…they may change it or we may change the govt!

I have to travel from Kenora, Ontario to Winnipeg to see an allergy or heart specialist/and or go for special procedures. My husband has to accompany me. We have to stay overnight. I look for deals online for hotels but still,with taxes and fees, the $100 hotel doesn’t cover it. I usually pay about $140 – $155 for this and as I said, I book online in advance to get deals. Also, why is there a deductible for the mileage. Believe me, provincial and federal government employees don’t have to have deductibles when doing government business. Also, government employees don’t have to have a $100 limit on their hotel allowance and pay out of pocket for anything more when doing government business. (note…..at times there are those people that have to stay more than one day and are only allowed the $100….it is the entire limit for the grant even if their stay is longer. What are they supposed to do? Sleep on the street?) This is so unfair. We are retired and have a set income. It’s difficult to pay for these expenses. It just seems the government has lots of money to pay for the things it wants, ie. the $10 million payout to Omar Khadar, but little to help those in need that are sick and vulnerable. We are at the mercy of those we elect. These travel grants need to be upgraded and reflect prices accurately. Thanks for listening.

patient companion had to stay almost two weeks with 82 year old patient room will be approx $1000.00 travel grant covers $100. not very good. Seniors don’t have the money to pay these expenses.

Atikokan to Thunder Bay is 203 km one way the bus only runs once a week and only one way so you would have to stay in a Motel for a week on top of that they don’t pay for the first 100 km and the most you can revive is 130.00 for travel . There is a shuttle service KellyCoach who offers same day return trips but northern travel don’t give enough to use their service so kinda stuck in a rock and hard place gov should pay more

My mother is a 78 year old legally blind senior who requires major surgery on her sighted eye. The surgery will render her blind for several days post-surgery and she is required to stay in Ottawa two days pre-surgery and 10 days post-surgery. We must drive a distance of 482km there and back and although we appreciate the mileage assistance, having only $100 in assistance for accommodations and no assistance for meals when required to stay to see the doctor every second day for follow-up post-surgery is not much assistance at all.As her companion, to assist and care for her in the days after the surgery where my mother will be unable to see or care for herself also leaves me unable to attend work – this is a 12 day stay after all. It is unacceptable. My mother is a senior on a fixed income of OAS and CPP and when a family member must take a leave of absence and must pay accommodation costs such as these – it puts additional strain on families already going through stressful health issues. My mother is facing potentially losing her sight completely when she wakes up. The other stress can be eliminated by a financial assessment or scale being put in place to at least assist the low income families in these circumstances. It’s unacceptable that a human being must go through this when they are suffering.

I need to travel from Marathon, Ontario to Thunder Bay Regional Hospital for Surgery’s. First you need to go the day before for the Pre Op, stay the night for Surgery the next day, even though it’s day surgery they want you to stay that night and they send a nurse to your motel, for your pain medication & dressing changes. So you have no choice but to stay two nights in a motel & one of the nights they use like a hospital room, but the travel grant only pays $100.00 for accommodations. So you end up paying out of your pocket. They should at least pay all of the accommadations. It’s not our fault that they built a Regional Hospital that can not accommadate the Region.

If your spouse is flown from northern community to southern Ontario for surgery, why won’t the cost of hotels and meals be covered. Telemedicine wouldn’t work. And the Federal/Provincial mileage rate is .56 in 2016. Why is the mileage rate .41? Are patients and taxpayers being punished?

I was sent for emergency surgery on a Wednesday. but once arriving at they hospitAL and waiting hours to find outy surgery would need to be rescheduled to friday-overnight stay-released Saturday. My issue-unable to drive do a friend drove. Missed now 4 days of work & we found family to stay with because we couldn’t stay that long at a hotel-too expensive. We need better health care. Sudbury needs specialist!

I traveled by car from Parry Sound district to London for surgery performed on Sept. 17, 2015. For various reasons my application for travel assistance was not completed and mailed until the first week of September of this year. Although the application itself was fine, I was denied because no one acknowledged it until September 20th – 3 days late for the twelve month cutoff of Sept.17/2016. The 17th was a Sat. and the mail was not opened until the following Tuesday. Does the mail always get opened the same day it’s received or does it sit on someone’s desk for a few days? The letter denying the claim was dated Oct.5 which suggests that there may be some backlog in processing claims. For a Ministry that claims to be committed to helping people, perhaps a tiny bit of flexibility would be appropriate.

My wife and I had to go $750 out of pocket (after travel grant paid us $237.90) for her to have surgery in Thunder Bay.

I also had to deal with the headache of getting the $100 accommodation reimbursed, because the motel we stayed at issued the receipt in my name. The Ministry refused to pay the accommodation allowance, because my wife’s (the patient) name wasn’t on the hotel receipt.

I’d say the experience has been a shocker, but I’m never shocked when I’m dealing with the Ontario government.

Appeal this.. the hotel will issue the required receipt because they are aware of these silly rules the govt has and the govt will reconsider the app and pay. They dont make the rules completely clear. If you require help call your MPP’s off. The are very helpful.

Patients that qualify for the travel grant have difficulty finding a room within the $100 limit and furthermore if extended treatment is needed they find themselves financially burdened with the extra cost

My dad was to have a “routine” heart procedure and almost died. He then caught a hospital infection and was delirious. As POA I had to stay for 18 days with only $100 towards hotel was covered.

The Northern Health Travel Grant system is too inflexible.

For example, those in Elliot Lake do not qualify for the accommodation allowance when travelling to medical appointments in Sudbury but if the appointment is very slightly further in Sault Ste Marie then they qualify for accommodation.

Qualification takes no account of what the appointment is for. Someone going to Sudbury for day surgery must drive him/her self home or pay hotel accommodation themselves. Crazy!

Even more ridiculous, someone who has appointments on two consecutive days and does not qualify for accommodation must repeat the (175km exch way) trip each day!

My husband recently under went a quadruple bypass in Hamilton. I had to drive 4 hours to Thunder Bay to be with him when he flew to Hamilton. I had to stay in a hotel in Thunder Bay because he didn’t fly out until the next day. I had to pay for hotels in Hamilton for 8 nights, take a $100 cab ride to Pearson to get us home, paid $900.00 in airline tickets, spent $25 on a cab from the Thunder Bay Airport and then stayed another night at a hotel for $145.00 at the doctors request before diving another 4 hours home.

All totaled, we are out of pocket $1980.00…we get refunded $1221.00!! That covers the airfare, $100 for accommodations and $.41 a kilometer for the travel. That leaves a balance of $728.00 that we have to suck up because we live in a small northwestern community. Pile of crap!!

My wife and I (both seniors) live in Windsor. In 2013 she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer–a soft tissue Sarcoma. Our local Cancer clinic immediately referred her to Princess Margaret hospital in Toronto—our local hospital has no experience nor resources to treat Sarcomas. We had no other choice. We had to take Via over 35 times and literally live in Toronto hotels (400 km away) throughout 2013 and 2014, for consultations, various examinations, various tests, radiation, very extensive surgery, and various follow up visits. Going by car is out of the question due to weather, physical limitations, higher cost, etc. More visits and more surgery are slated for 2015. Our total expenses so far are over $23,000. About a quarter of our expenses have been recovered though medical expense credits on our income taxes, but the remaining amount is not. We don’t qualify for Northern Health Care assistance, and are quickly eating up our savings. Any advice would be appreciated

Having to travel from Thunder Bay to Toronto for treatment as my unborn son has been diagnosed with a condition known as CDH and no one in Thunder Bay can assist. Each trip is a minimum of 3 days and we soon find out if I’ll have to remain in Toronto for the remaining 10-12 weeks of my pregnancy… Medical rate at a hotel within 20mins of hospital is 139$…the northern travel grant is a help for flights but how am I supposed to afford this upcoming hotel bill? Especially since I’m not working anymore :(

It should be looked… The accommodation portion should be more than 100 per trip

I find it very unfair and unaffordable, my dr has sent me out of town to see a specialist, I have been since told I have to go back 4 more times. I understand I will have help with the travel but once I get there it is going to cost me over a hundred dollars to and from airport. I have no income what so ever as I have been off due to neck and back issues and spending this is taking away from other things of importance. I would not think twice about hoping on a bus or subway but I have a very hard time sitting, standing for any length of time, if I could I would not need these visits. I really wish there was at least some help with transportation.

As mentioned in the last section of the article, telehealth has been shown to be an effective means of delivering care to rural and remote populations. Patients can not only avoid the costs associated with travel but also access care in a more timely manner. According to a Praxia/Gartner study commissioned by Canada Health Infoway in 2011, patients reported avoiding between $400 and more than $1,000 per return trip by using telehealth. Furthermore, a number of medical disciplines reported more timely care in a variety of care settings. For example, wait times for dermatology were reported to be reduced to no more than 10 days, and frequently only two days; wait times for ophthalmology were observed to decrease from about 25 days to less than two days. The full study can be accessed here: https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/index.php/progress-in-canada/benefits-realization#telehealth

How is telehealth going to administer my treatment? I attend a pain clinic in Toronto. There is a difference between not knowing if I have the flu or a cold and calling telehealth and getting treated for chronic pain, chronic headache, and receiving IV treatments for pain. Your comment is irrelevant.

%featured%My husband and I have to live in Toronto because he needs a lung transplant. Because we have to be within 2.5 hours from the only hospital in Ontario that does the procedure we have had to relocate from Sault Ste. Marie. %featured%Through Trillium we get $650 per month as a relocation allowance. Others on the transplant list from the Maritimes get between $1500 and $1650 per month for relocation. It costs us who live in Northern Ontario a lot more to live here than it does for them. After 13 months on the waiting list we have spent more than $ 15 000 of our own money to live here. We are grateful for the chance my husband has at a new life but it is a very unfair situation in a country where medicare is supposed to be universal.

A patient cannot claim expense without return airfare ticket completed. For example, someone from N. On. who is needs to be in Toronto for a lung transplant, (which can be a 1-3 year process) gets the same amount as a one day visit AND no refund until patient completes trip, in other words, returns home.

%featured%The travel grant is good in northern Ontario , it does assist to see a real specialist in southern Ontario, but the question is why isn’t Health Care the same in Toronto, London or Timmins.%featured%

The Health Care experience in Sarnia is no where at the level of London. London Health Care is supreme to Sarnia

Anyone who has had any experiences with the Sudbury Hospital will tell you.. Going down South for medical care is the only option we have, if you want to live. And the Doctors down south will tell you how pathetic our health care in Sudbury really is. So %featured%in my opinion, the travel grant should be enough to cover ALL expenses. Not just part.%featured%If we had great health care and the same services as the south People wouldn’t have to travel.

I had 5 bypasses in 2000 and still going strong. I am a tradesman and just submitting my retirement papers now, you must have had a bad experience, but don’t take it out on all of Sudbury. In fact Sudbury has a reputation for their knowledge and care of heart patients.

My husband just had a heart attack and he had great care in Sudbury

What I don’t understand is that my expenses including an overnight stay in Toronto (hotel cost $150.00 a night near the hospital) were denied because I should have taken a bus to my 7 a.m. appointment from Sudbury and come home the same day instead of travelling the night before and staying in a hotel. With all the red tape and then being denied I haven’t even bothered to apply again. I now have specialist appointments every 2 weeks in Toronto.

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Backlog for health travel grant claims blamed on hiring freeze, MPP says

Nickel belt's france gélinas says reduced staffing level at sudbury nhtg office causing backlog.

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Northerners who have to travel to points south for medical reasons know all about being out-of-pocket for expenses.

The Ministry of Health helps defray those costs with travel grants, but recently some families have had to wait longer than usual to be reimbursed.

The Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) provides a portion of the cost when an individual must travel at least 100 kilometres one way to access the closest medical specialist, or healthcare service not available in their home area.

Funding boost allows patients who travel for medical needs in northern Ontario to be eligible for more money
$10M to cover northern patient hotel bills, but should it go to hospitals?
Northern Ontarians 'not able to access the travel grant,' West Nipissing councillor says

Ken Obansawin's six-year-old son has cystic fibrosis and must visit Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto at least twice a year for check-ups, but more visits are needed if there's a problem.

The family drives south the night before the appointment, stays in a hotel and then drives back to Hanmer the next day.

It adds up to about $400 in travel expenses, some of which they get back through the Northern Health Travel Grant.

The family submits a claim after each visit and then gets reimbursed, usually, six weeks later.

Obansawin says last October they submitted a claim, and then waited 12 weeks for the cheque from the Ministry of Health.

"You get your credit card balance and you get a bit of money back. It helps out a little bit, but this way here, it's just so far gone and you're booking the next hotels and you still haven't been paid," he said.

The family had already booked their hotel accommodations for the upcoming March appointment in Toronto, and still hadn't received the October claim payment.

Not acceptable

Obansawin took the details of the delay to his MPP.

Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas says she's heard from other northern families who are stressed by similar delays, Some have been waiting as long as four months.

Gélinas, who is the NDP Health Critic, believes reduced staffing levels at the ministry's health travel grant office in Sudbury, are to blame.

Ford orders public sector hiring freeze, excludes essential frontline staff
Ford government aiming to slash size of public service through voluntary departures

The Ford provincial government initiated a hiring freeze of civil servants in 2019, to reduce the provincial deficit.

"To me the answer is clear: backfill those positions. The people of northern Ontario need those workers to be there to process those claims," Gélinas said.

The Sudbury location the only site that processes the claims and payments for the travel grant program.

"It is not acceptable that a government puts people through so much stress and hardship on the fact that they don't want to hire. The civil service has to provide a level of service."

Ministry of Health reviewing service delivery of NHTG

In an email to CBC News, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care didn't elaborate on what the problem is. But did say it was reviewing the service delivery of the NHTG program.

The ministry admits the processing of travel grants is taking about 10 weeks, but says processing staff is working to return to service delivery standards of six weeks.

According to the same email, the Ministry of Health says it is currently in the planning phase of providing payment delivery through electronic bank deposits, and that once available, it will expedite the processing of health travel grants.

Claims and receipts for the Northern Health Travel Grant must be mailed or submitted to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's NHTG office on Larch Street in Sudbury. There is no online version to submit a claim.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angela Gemmill is a CBC journalist who covers news in Sudbury and northern Ontario. Connect with her on Twitter @AngelaGemmill. Send story ideas to [email protected]

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4872-88 – Northern Physician Retention Initiative Application
4727-88 – Application for Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative
4550-88 – Application for Tuition Support Program for Nurses
0327-88 – Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
1667-88 – Application for Physician Locum Programs
2352-88 – Application for Rehabilitation Incentive Grant
1413-88E – Physician Outreach Program Billing Form - Monthly
2983-88 – Confirmation of Payment Instruction
1617-88E – Statement of Expenses

Community Services Locator

Financial assistance for transportation, description:.

The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) offers financial assistance to subsidize travel expenses for individuals with low income and diagnosed with cancer. Only one travel allowance is granted per year, based on the application date. The annual allowance amount is subject to change without notice. The allowance is granted only to the person with cancer and CCS cannot issue the payment to a third party under any circumstances. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

You must be undergoing active cancer treatment. • If you travel less than 200 km one way to your treatment centre, you must have a minimum of 10 appointments related to your treatment in the year. • If you live in AB/SK/MB/ON, you must also live in an area supported by the TTF. To find out if you live in one of these areas, call us. • If you live in BC/ON/NB/PEI/NS and are travelling more than 200 km one way, there is no minimum number of appointments needed to qualify. • If you live in QC and are more than 200 km from your treatment centre, you may be able to get financial assistance through the government. Before you apply here for the TTF, call us at 1-888-939-3333 to find out if you may qualify for government assistance instead. • If you live in BC/AB/SK/MB/ON and are approved for the TTF, you will not be able to access the volunteer driver program for a period of one year. • If your travel is covered through the Ontario Northern Health Travel Grant, or if you are a beneficiary of any other social assistance programs, you are not eligible for the Travel Treatment Fund.

Your household income (financial assessment)

A family unit includes any person in the family who lives permanently at the same address as you.

FINANCIAL CRITERIA BASED ON FAMILY UNIT

A family unit includes any person in the family who resides permanently at the same address as the person with cancer.

My family unit consists of 1 person whose gross annual income is less than $30,000.
My family unit consists of 2 people whose combined gross annual income is less than $37,000.
My family unit consists of 3 people whose combined gross annual income is less than $44,500.
My family unit consists of 4 people whose combined gross annual income is less than $53,500.
My family unit consists of 5 people whose combined gross annual income is less than $60,000.
My family unit consists of 6 people whose combined gross annual income is less than $67,500.
My family unit consists of 7 or more people whose combined gross annual income is less than $74,500.

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Ottawa hasn’t provided funds for Northern Ontario hospital, Indigenous leaders, province says

Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu participates in a news said Ottawa is working closely with Ontario to ensure a hospital gets built to replace 75-year-old Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The federal government is placing the onus on Ontario to ensure a Northern community gets a new health campus but First Nations leaders and the province say Ottawa has failed to provide promised funding required to make the project a reality.

Speaking outside of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said Ottawa is working closely with Ontario to ensure a hospital gets built.

“Look, we have supported Ontario with billions of dollars of transfers to improve health for all Ontarians,” she told reporters. “We’ll continue to help them in meeting those responsibilities.”

The new facility would be located in Moosonee, Ont., and would replace the 75-year-old Weeneebayko General Hospital in Moose Factory.

The Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA), a First Nation regional health authority located on the west coast of James Bay in Northern Ontario, says the current hospital is in a state of disrepair.

Elizabeth McCarthy, director of strategy and communications for WAHA, said Tuesday it is her understanding that federal health transfers do not go toward capital projects like the new hospital. The health authority is expecting a direct transfer of funds under an agreement signed in 2007 known as the Weeneebayko Area Health Integration Framework Agreement.

The agreement spells out federal funding for 45 per cent of capital costs to build the new campus.

When the federal budget was tabled this April, WAHA said it looked for funding. But there was no financial commitment contained within it for the project.

When asked about the lack of funding on Tuesday, Ms. Hajdu said there is a “pattern of behaviour” where the province “defers to the federal government when we’re talking about the health of Indigenous peoples .”

In response to Ms. Hajdu’s comments, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones, said the federal minister is “fully aware that this is not about the provincial-federal health deal” but this issue is “exclusively about the federal government failing to uphold their responsibility under WAHIFA and putting the future of this project at risk.”

Ms. Jensen also said Ms. Hajdu and federal colleagues have been invited to join provincial partners to see the site firsthand on June 17 to understand why building a new hospital in Moosonee is “important now more than ever.”

On May 14 on X, Ms. Jones shared a letter saying she had met with the federal government to urge it to uphold its funding commitment.

“A replacement is critical to ensure the 12,000 people living along the Western James Bay and Hudson Bay Coast can continue to access care,” Ms. Jones wrote.

First Nations leaders also say it is incumbent upon the federal government to make good on its promise.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, whose umbrella organization represents 49 communities in Northern Ontario, said at a Monday news conference he was a “bit angry” about First Nations leaders needing to travel hundreds of miles from their communities to implore Canada to follow through.

“You actually need to step up and honour these commitments that you’ve made,” he said. “Enough of these empty gestures.”

WAHA said in a press release the process to get approval and eventual funding began “in earnest” in 2019. Its chief executive, Lynne Innes, said contracts have been recently awarded and some construction has begun. Funding was expected this year, she said, adding that the expected federal contribution is $1.34-billion.

Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus, along with leader Jagmeet Singh and NDP Indigenous services critic Lori Idlout, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express their “deep disappointment” in the government’s decision “to walk away on a commitment to build a proper hospital in the James Bay region.”

Mr. Angus also issued a statement saying Ms. Hajdu is signalling the health crisis in James Bay is not a priority for her.

“She is attempting to obscure the facts over her lack of action and is hiding in jurisdictional game playing,” Mr. Angus said.

Mr. Singh asked Mr. Trudeau about the missing funding during Question Period on Tuesday. In response, the Prime Minster said the government “will continue to work to respond to the important needs of First Nations communities around health care.”

Leo Friday, Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council, which includes Moose Cree Nation, said Monday he was perplexed by the federal government’s lack of action.

“I would have expected Ontario to resist, but I would expect no trouble from the feds.”

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IMAGES

Northern Ontario Travel Grant: Everything You Need To Know
Northern Ontario Travel Grant: Everything You Need To Know
Northern Ontario Travel Grant: Everything You Need To Know
NDP MPP calls for updated Northern Health Travel Grant to meet
Northern ontario travel grant: Fill out & sign online
Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant

COMMENTS

Northern Health Travel Grant Program
The Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) program does not cover expenses for meals or taxi services. However, receipts for gas and meals should be kept for 12 months if we require proof of travel for audit purposes. Accommodation allowance. The NHTG program offers an accommodation allowance for patients who: meet the travel grant eligibility ...
What you need to know about Ontario's changes to the Northern Health
The Ontario government is spending $45 million over three years to expand the Northern Health Travel Grant. While the expansion was initially included in the 2024 Ontario budget, Ontario Health ...
Northern Ontario Travel Grant: Everything You Need To Know
The Northern Ontario travel grant does not cover food or incidentals. You can get an accommodation allowance if you met the travel criteria listed in the travel grant section and submit a receipt in your name for the accommodation expenses you paid. Patients under 18 years old must have a receipt for expenses in their parent's or guardian's ...
Ontario Connecting People in the North to the Care They Need
The Northern Health Travel Grant provides financial reimbursements that help cover the medical-related costs Northern Ontario residents can incur when travelling to access OHIP-insured health care services that are not available within a 100-kilometre radius of where they live. These include specialist visits and some diagnostic services.
Province expanding Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program
THUNDER BAY - The province is expanding the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program to cover more costs incurred by patients needing eligible out-of-town care. Health Minister Sylvia Jones ...
PDF Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
Application for Northern Health Travel Grant. The Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program helps defray travel related expenses of eligible Northern Ontario residents seeking medical specialist services or procedures at a ministry funded health care facility (e.g. CAT scan). Ministry travel grants are based on the distance to the nearest ...
Big Changes To Northern Travel Grant Announced
The Northern Health Travel Grant provides financial reimbursements that help cover the medical-related costs Northern Ontario residents can incur when travelling to access OHIP-insured health care services that are not available within a 100-kilometre radius of where they live. These include specialist visits and some diagnostic services.
North Bay news: Province boosts northern travel grant, eases
And the travel distance requirement to be eligible for overnight accommodation allowance is being cut from 200 kilometres to 100 kilometres. In 2022-2023, approximately 170,000 travel grants were processed for 66,000 northern Ontario residents. A total of 98 per cent of eligible applications for the grant are paid within four to six weeks.
Travel Grants
Care of: Northern Health Programs 159 Cedar Street, Suite 402 Sudbury, ON P3E 6A5 705-564-7280 1-866-727-9959. Do not apply for a travel grant when: you travel to an out-of-town medical specialist when a local physician (less than 100 km from your area of residence) can perform the same service. your trip is for something other than health care
Province expanding Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program
THUNDER BAY - The province is expanding the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant program to cover more costs incurred by patients needing eligible out-of-town care. Health Minister Sylvia Jones on Tuesday revealed details of the revamped plan at a stop at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, announcing they have increased the ...
Province expanding Northern Health Travel Grant Program
The Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant Program is being expanded. Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced 45-million dollars is being invested over three years to help northern residents connect to the specialized care and services they need. "Our government knows that for too long, patients in Northern Ontario have faced unique challenges ...
Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
Additional Information. Form Number. 0327-88. Title. Application for Northern Health Travel Grant. Description. Used to apply for financial travel assistance by Northern Ontario residents who must travel long distances to access medical specialist services.
PDF Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
Offi ce hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday except holidays. For more information, call 705 675-4010 or 1 800 461-4006. The ministry cannot process your application unless you (and your companion, if applicable) provide the personal information required in sections 1 and 5 of the application.
Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
Used to apply for financial travel assistance by Northern Ontario residents who must travel long distances to access medical specialist services. Source: Application for Northern Health Travel Grant. Form files. English - 0327-88e -... French - 0327-88f -... Additional Information. Last updated: February 8, 2023: Created: December 11, 2021:
PDF Application for Northern Health Travel Grant
There is a deductible of 100 kilometres on your trip. Travel grants do not cover all of your travel expenses but help defray the overall cost of your trip. You are eligible for a travel grant if: you live in Northern Ontario in the districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Timiskaming or ...
Ontario. Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
Ministry of Health and Long Term Care - Northern Health Travel Grant Program Phone Numbers: 705-675-4010: Toll-Free: 1-800-461-4006: Fax: 705-675-4015: Website ... Must be referred by a northern Ontario health provider (physician, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, midwife or nurse practitioner) ...
Direct Deposit for Northern Health Travel Grant Program
The Ministry of Health now offers direct deposit, also known as Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), for the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program. This payment option supports the Ontario government's efforts to improve service delivery and make programs more convenient and easier to access. Direct deposit is: faster and secure
Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program
The NHTG Program offers financial assistance to cover travel costs based on the distance between your home and the nearest medical specialist or ministry funded health care facility. Whether you drive or use commercial transportation, you'll be reimbursed at 41 cents per kilometer (round-trip), after subtracting a deductible of 100 kilometers.
Changes coming to travel grant program
Several changes are being made to the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant. The program reimburses people who have to travel to access healthcare not available in their community. Beginning this fall, the province will begin implementing the changes that will include an online application form that provides for digital receipt submissions to make reimbursement fast.
Despite Ontario's Northern Health Travel Grant, some still pay out of
The Northern Health Travel Grant helps offset some of the costs that come with that, with the goal of increasing access to care for people in those areas. Yet it doesn't cover everything. Normand and her husband received $2,625 from the program, about $1,500 of which was for her husband, with the rest for her costs as his companion.
Backlog for health travel grant claims blamed on hiring freeze, MPP
It adds up to about $400 in travel expenses, some of which they get back through the Northern Health Travel Grant. The family submits a claim after each visit and then gets reimbursed, usually ...
Forms
Forms. 4872-88 - Northern Physician Retention Initiative Application. 4727-88 - Application for Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative. 4550-88 - Application for Tuition Support Program for Nurses. 0327-88 - Application for Northern Health Travel Grant. 1667-88 - Application for Physician Locum Programs.
Financial Assistance for Transportation
• If your travel is covered through the Ontario Northern Health Travel Grant, or if you are a beneficiary of any other social assistance programs, you are not eligible for the Travel Treatment Fund. Your household income (financial assessment) A family unit includes any person in the family who lives permanently at the same address as you.
Custom Care & Coverage Just For You
Kaiser Permanente health plans around the country: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., in Northern and Southern California and Hawaii • Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado • Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, Inc., Nine Piedmont Center, 3495 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30305, 404-364-7000 • Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of ...
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The NCAA and the nation's five biggest conferences have agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle a host of antitrust claims,a monumental decision that sets the stage for a groundbreaking ...
Valemount Council: Audit, Entrance Sign, RV use
Valemount Council discussed their 2023 audit, reviewed an updated design for the entrance sign on 5th Avenue, and repealed a bylaw allowing RVs to be used as residences on lots
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario.Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Province of the Canadian Shield, a vast rocky plateau located mainly north of Lake Huron (including Georgian Bay), the French River, Lake Nipissing, and the ...
Ottawa hasn't provided funds for Northern Ontario hospital, Indigenous
The federal government is placing the onus on Ontario to ensure a Northern community gets a new health campus but First Nations leaders and the province say Ottawa has failed to provide promised ...
How to protect yourself from COVID-19 and help prevent the spread
COVID-19 remains at moderate levels. Read the latest data from NSW Health. Continue to protect other people. Please stay home if you have any cold or flu symptoms. Wear a mask if you need to leave home. Talk with your doctor now if you're at higher risk. You may need a PCR test and be eligible ...
Nunavut signs interim deal on non-insured health benefits with Ottawa
The governments of Nunavut and Canada have reached an interim funding agreement on the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program (NIHB) for Nunavut Inuit. That includes an additional $190 million from the federal government for medical travel. The two-year deal is retroactive to April 1, 2022, and ends next spring. In a news release, the Nunavut government said the agreement is a step in the right ...

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