Law and Government

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Applying for Saskatchewan Health Coverage

Since each province administers its own health care plan, applying for said plan varies immensely. Quebec has been the most onerous, Alberta the easiest.

Applying for Saskatchewan health coverage meant having to sign up for a Saskatchewan health online account and filling out an application, which included needing scanned PDF copies of a few of the same documents that I gave to SGI; passport, driver’s license (only this time SK, not AB), and water bill.

And then the waiting began. I applied on Tuesday. Today, two days later, I got an email from SK health updating me on the status of my application. Since a picture is worth a thousand words:

health cardIn case you can’t read that, my status is ELIGIBLE. 🙂 I only just got into iffy territory with the Alberta card so this is excellent news!

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Famous Last Words

Back in 2011, I said in an interview for the Vancouver Sun, “I don’t see myself ever going back to living in one place again.”

To some extent, that is still true. But in 2011, I had no idea that a place like Haven was even a possibility for me. My nest egg had grown too small to expect to be able to buy property, at least in the world that I knew. Accruing more debt to by land just wasn’t an option. I had no idea that within two years I would have seen enough of Canada to know for certain where in this country I’d be willing to put down some roots, much less that this location would enable me to own my property outright.

And that’s what’s changed everything for me. This land is mine. In exchange for very low annual property taxes, I have the security of knowing that I could travel the world for years, never setting foot in Canada in all that time, and still have a place to land when I grow weary of wandering.

With this property, I get another amazing luxury, the freedom to develop as I wish, without interference by building inspectors or local ordinances. I can build a small off the grid structure at my own pace, as funds and materials and labour present themselves, and know that I’ll be left alone to do it.

In 2011, I couldn’t fathom a future that included a paid-for stick house, even in the far off future. Now, that is almost a certainty. I might never live in that house, but knowing it is there just in case is even better than money in the bank.

I used to have two dreams for my life, that of the globetrotting nomad and that of the sedentary homesteader. I thought that RVing was the perfect compromise to both those dreams. I had no idea that it would be the key to fulfilling both of them because it enabled me to travel all over Canada until I found the most travel-friendly province in which to establish residency.

What was becoming clear in 2011 was how difficult it would be to be a true full-timer for any great length of time in Canada. I knew that one day all the lies and half-truths I had to tell to maintain my driving and health care privileges would catch up to me and that there would be hell to pay.

That burden grew heavier as the months marched on until the weight of it was unbearable. When I had the blowouts this spring that caused a lot of damage more than one person said I should go to my insurance company. I’ll say now what I couldn’t say then; I strongly suspected that I would have trouble with the claim having been out of Alberta for a full year by that time. I absolutely had to keep flying under the radar.

This morning, my life as a full-timer took a twist. I’m still bound by the six-month rule to maintain my health coverage, but that rule isn’t so onerous because I will be returning to a place I love that was of my own choosing and where I am a burden to no one. I’ve wandered enough in this country to be content with having a set summer camp.

But my driving privileges are finally unfettered. I can go south for the winter and even for trips outside the province with my truck during the summer without any problems. The government knows what I’m up to and considers that fine and dandy. I don’t even have to pay a supplement for the privilege.

All that to say that, for the cost of a $3 lamp (plus $9 to install it), my truck sailed through her out of province safety inspection this morning. An hour after pulling out of the shop, and thanks to my huge pile of well-organized paperwork and a not insignificant sum of money, I became a Saskatchewan resident.

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I’ve applied for my Saskatchewan health card and as long as all the paperwork is in order, I should have coverage here at the end of next month.

Next hurdle, Miranda’s out of province safety inspection. If the list for a motorhome is similar to that for a light vehicle, my only real concern is about her frame being bent from the accident and her possibly being out of alignment. I already know she’s missing a couple of fuses as the horn and radio don’t work. I’m thinking of rescheduling for the following week as I’ll have more funds then. I’ve gained permission from the shop to pull in after dinner the night before the inspection and sleep on site to save myself a crazy early morning.

I can’t wait for Miranda’s legal stuff to be squared away so I can start firming up my winter plans.

Is it too early to toast my officially becoming a resident of this gorgeous land of living skies? 😀

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Saskatchewan Is Likely the BEST Province of Residence For a Full-Timer!!!

Hear ye, hear ye! Thinking of full-time RVing in Canada? Move to Saskatchewan a year before you want to go full-time! Really!

I just got a VERY surprising bit of information from SGI.

There are two major obstacles to full-timing in Canada, legally maintaining your health coverage and all the driving stuff (driver’s license, vehicle registration, and vehicle insurance). All the other provinces I have lived in (ON, QC, AB, YT), a vehicle plated in that province must be used in that province most of the time.

Canadians who live in Mexico, renewing their visitor visas every year, will understand of what I speak. Because of a Mexican law, these Canadians have to keep their vehicles registered and insured in Canada even though the vehicles haven’t been to Canada in years. So many Canadians (and this is all from forum discussions I’ve read) let their registration and insurance expire since their province will not renew.

If these Canadians were from Saskatchewan, there would be no problem. Here’s the email I got from SGI, emphasis mine:

“SGI does have an allowance for individuals traveling and living in their vehicle outside Saskatchewan for an extended period of time. In order to qualify for this registration allowance the registered owner of the vehicle must meet and maintain the following requirements:

1. If they don’t currently have a permanent residence in Saskatchewan, their last permanent residence (owned/rented/leased) was in Saskatchewan; and
2. They don’t own a permanent residence outside of Saskatchewan; and
3. If they hold a driver’s license it must be from Saskatchewan; and
4. They file income tax in Saskatchewan; and
5. They are required to return to Saskatchewan at least once per year.

Anytime a vehicle is operated outside of Saskatchewan the rules of the jurisdiction the vehicle is being operated in must be followed.

If you are able to meet the above criteria then you would meet the definition of a Full Time Traveller for registration of your motorhome and the ability to operate it extensively outside Saskatchewan.

If you don’t meet the above criteria you would be considered a non-Saskatchewan resident. As a non-Saskatchewan resident SGI will register and insure the motorhome if it is being used in Saskatchewan. However, out of province use of the motor home would be limited to 30 days in a calendar year.

The coverage provided by the license plate would be for damage to the motor home itself and includes $200,000 in third party liability. The license plate coverage does not cover any contents within a vehicle or anything you have put in storage. This type of coverage would need to be purchased through a private insurance broker.”

Saskatchewan is crazy convenient to get to, being right smack in the middle of the continent, so getting here once a year by vehicle or plane really wouldn’t be an issue.

So if a Canadian is thinking of going full-time, they would do well to move to Saskatchewan for a year first to establish themselves as residents. Then, as long as they come back once a year (note that there isn’t a time requirement for the return), even if they no longer have property here (but why not buy, properties are CHEAP here!), they can still have SK-plated vehicles and an SK driver’s license as long as they keep paying their income tax in SK.

Back in Dawson City, I met a blog reader who is based in Alberta. We talked about replacing an Alberta’s driver’s license if yours is stolen. A true full-timer with no real homebase in Alberta would have a really hard time doing so as you have to reestablish proof of residency. In SK, no problem as long as you follow their non-onerous rules.

Now, health coverage is another matter altogether, same as all the other provinces in that you need to be here a certain number of months per year (six in SK). But that seems like such a small hurdle when the driving stressors are eliminated.

This revelation has renewed my interest in going to Mexico for a few years if I can meet the new visa requirements. I could head down there with Miranda only (less complicated to enter the country that way and the motorhome would have entry for 10 years versus six months for the truck). I could spend the bulk of the year there, but fly to SK for parts of the summer. This would be lovely once I get a small cottage on this lot and even a garage.

I’m happy to know that Canada hasn’t whipped me completely into submission, that I can still refuse to accept what I’m initially told and move up the chain of command until I get the answer I want.

This is the freest I’ve felt since I pulled out of Ottawa just shy of five years ago. In a couple of weeks, I will be ‘legitimate’ again and be able to set off on my next adventure with the peace of mind that I have been sorely lacking the last few years.

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Good News

I got back from a Willow Bunch run this morning to find several emails from insurance brokers in Regina regarding my conundrum. All but one basically said, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

The exception basically said, “Hey, no problem! You’ll get the basic RV insurance from SGI to make it street legal, then we’ll add on some extra coverage since it’s your house and you need more liability, and finally we’ll tack on a basic tenant insurance policy for your contents.”

I forwarded the email to my SGI contact who confirmed that this is doable. It is!!!! Now, I’m waiting for the other guy to get back to me with some answers regarding the coverage they can give me. It’s nowhere near as good as what I’m getting with the Elite coverage and I’m wondering if we can get a little closer to that (eg. being able to get a hotel and restaurant meals if I’m forced out).

Not counting the out of province vehicle inspections, which I’ll get to momentarily, my paperwork is mostly in order. I have all my Quebec claims history and my driver’s abstract. But when I moved from Yukon to Alberta, my Yukon broker refused to give me my claims history and sent it directly to my Alberta broker, after two or three requests. I’m going to request my Alberta claims history and at the same time ask if they have the Yukon information to send along with the Alberta records. I have a Yukon driver’s abstract and SGI can access Alberta records to get my history there.

So the next major hurdle is the out of province vehicle inspections. Since I needed propane, I decided to drive to Assiniboia to talk to someone in person. I went to the SGI website, found the only place in town that could do both vehicles, and headed there. The truck is scheduled for first thing Tuesday morning and Miranda for the Tuesday after that. I forgot to ask about the cost and, really, it’s irrelevant since I need the work done.

Once the truck safety is done and any issues found are addressed, I will be able to get my Saskatchewan driver’s license and health coverage as well as the plates for the truck and the tenant insurance for Miranda. That will mean Miranda will not be street legal but I’ll be okay parked on my property if disaster strikes.

The out of province inspections are a huge wildcard. I have no idea what may be found. The truck was safetied in Alberta last summer, so I’m not too concerned. But I really don’t know about Miranda because of the accident I had last year. I know the brakes won’t be a problem, but there could be alignment issues and I could be forced to buy my tires right then and there when I was hoping to get her into a Montana tire shop.

My feelings about the purpose for the out of province inspections aside, I know that Miranda’s likely due for a thorough inspection, so I’m trying to be zen about this instead of thinking of all the time it’s going to take to pull out, get there, do the inspection, come back, get set up again, and do it all over again in the likely event that she needs work done.

So to reiterate, provided the truck inspection goes smoothly and I get the rest of my claims history promptly, I just may end up being a Saskatchewan resident by the end of the month. And for the rest of my life. The next time I immigrate somewhere, it’s to another country.

(And the word ‘immigrate’ is not hyperbole. I have proof on my desk, a government form from Quebec, that you don’t move to a new province but rather immigrate to it.)

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Making Progress!

Ah, having been a fed really was useful as I’ve learned how the great mean machine thinks and acts.

I’ve been researching private insurance and have found a number of folks who do ‘special property’ insurance. I’ve contacted a few to see if I could get the contents of my rig insured, plus get some personal liability coverage. Possibly, and only if SGI will insure the motorhome for the driving portion of the equation.

So I went back to the broker in Assiniboia and asked them if SGI would insure a vehicle that I’m living in. YES. They just won’t merge their house and auto policies to give me an all-in-one or give me the personal liability coverage.

Now, I just need to find someone who will give me the coverage I’m missing. I really doubt that I’ll get anything as good as I had with Aviva Elite, like the hotel and meal perk if I’m forced out, and I’m sure I’ll end up paying, sum total, way more than I’m paying now (about $1,700 a year for the truck, motorhome and contents, and liability). But if I can pull this together, I may get my Saskatchewan residency!

The moral of the story is, be your own advocate. And remember the government is just a bunch of robots acting in unison. Confuse them enough and you just might get what you want.

Star Trek has been the best education of my life.