Since October 1, 2020, emergency medical expenses related to COVID-19 are covered for travel destinations for which the Government of Canada has issued a Level 1, 2, or 3* travel health notice. The insurance policies stipulate that you must be in good and stable health before you leave on your trip.

Emergency medical expenses related to COVID-19 are not covered for travel destinations for which the Government of Canada has issued a Level 4* travel health notice.

*The Government of Canada issues 4 travel health notices for travel destinations:

• Level 1 - Practise usual precautions
• Level 2 - Practise special precautions
• Level 3 - Avoid all non-essential travel
• Level 4 - Avoid all travel

Since October 1, 2020, the following situations apply DURING YOUR TRIP if your insurance includes trip cancellation/interruption coverage:

• If the Government of Canada’s travel health notice for the travel destination where you are travelling changes from Level 1 or 2 to Level 3* during your trip, you may interrupt your trip within a maximum of 14 days following the notice or continue your trip while maintaining your travel assistance coverage (including COVID-19).
• If the Government of Canada’s health travel notice for the travel destination where you are travelling changes from Level 1, 2, or 3 to Level 4* during your trip, you must interrupt your trip and return to Canada within a maximum of 14 days following the notice, or you will lose your travel assistance coverage.

Your insurance policy stipulates that, to be covered, you must be in good and stable health before departure.

*The Government of Canada issues 4 travel health notices for travel destinations as follows:

• Level 1 - Practise usual precautions
• Level 2 - Practise special precautions
• Level 3 - Avoid all non-essential travel
• Level 4 - Avoid all travel

Yes, if your insurance includes trip cancellation/interruption coverage.

Depending on the maximum amount provided for under your contract, you are covered for the extra cost of a return ticket with the following features:

• One-way ticket, in economy class
• Flight aboard a commercial airline, on a fixed schedule
• The most direct route to the point of departure

You are also covered for expenses incurred as a result of a change in your plane ticket date.

You must contact your travel insurance assistance service. This information is provided on your SSQ Insurance card and in your Customer Centre.

• For those covered by CanAssistance, fill out the form on their website.
• For those covered by AXA Assistance, contact AXA.

For Quebec residents who purchased their trip from a travel agency in Quebec

Exceptionally during the COVID-19 pandemic, you no longer have to submit a reimbursement request to the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents (CFCTA). Contact your travel insurance assistance service directly, as indicated above.

For SSQ Insurance, a travel credit is equal to a reimbursement. Therefore, whether or not you accepted a travel credit, we will deduct the travel credit amount from your claim. If the travel credit is equal to the total amount, SSQ Insurance will not issue a reimbursement.

Please note that claims may take up to 3 months to process.

No, the expenses for mandatory COVID-19 screening tests to return to Canada are not covered under travel insurance.

Additional expenses incurred while awaiting COVID-19 screening test results are not covered (for example, the cost for new plane tickets or changing the return date on the existing ticket, accommodation and living expenses, etc.)

Call your travel insurance assistance service. You will be referred to a healthcare professional.

This information is provided on your SSQ Insurance card and in your Customer Centre.

• For those covered by CanAssistance, contact CanAssistance.
• For those covered by AXA Assistance, contact AXA.

The following expenses are covered based on the maximum amount under your contract:

• Medical expenses
• Additional expenses incurred to purchase a return ticket, or the cost of modifying your existing ticket, based on the following:
  • One-way ticket, in economy class
  • Flight aboard a commercial airline, on a fixed schedule
  • The most direct route to the point of departure

Accommodation and living expenses are not covered unless stipulated otherwise under your contract.

If you choose to get vaccinated in a foreign country, despite the Canadian government’s advisory to avoid non-essential travel, SSQ Insurance will as an exceptional measure reimburse medical expenses that could arise from side effects of COVID-19 vaccination, in accordance with the travel insurance coverage stipulated in the insurance contract.