What’s the Best Health Insurance In Ontario?

Health insurance in Ontario 101

What’s covered by the government: The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) covers all medically-necessary physician and hospital services for Canadian residents.

It also includes drugs, dental, and vision for children and drugs and vision care for seniors 65 and over. Everyone with a disability lasting more than 6 months qualifies for 75% of the cost of prosthetics, orthotic braces, mobility aids, communication aids and more.

What’s not: But without medical coverage through social assistance (or an employer’s group benefits plan), you are probably going to need private health coverage for your own prescription drugs, dental work, vision care, and paramedical services (like chiropractors, naturopaths, etc.).

What’s the best health insurance in Ontario?

We’ve already identified the best health insurance plans in Ontario by evaluating 65 products from 9 insurers in 3 categories:

• Customer service averages the scores given in real customer reviews on Google, the Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, and Insureye.
• Financial stability reports the grade given by reputable credit rating agencies A.M. Best, Morningstar DBRS, and S&P Global.
• Value for money measures how much coverage you can claim in return for every dollar paid in co-payments, premiums, and deductibles.

The result is a ranking system of the best health insurance plans for Canadian parents, single parents, self-employed workers and seniors living in Ontario.

* Prices reflect the approximate costs for residents in the relevant age group in Ontario. They were last updated October 20th, 2025. 

1. Guaranteed Issue Classic from PolicyMe

Why it’s the best: PolicyMe’s Guaranteed Issue Classic plan combines comprehensive coverage and pricing with the best customer service in the industry, no medical questions required! Apply online in 20 minutes or less, and you can start making claims as soon as one business day later.

The Classic plan provides moderate to high-income families with prescription drug coverage, dental care, vision care and paramedical services coverage, plus up to $800/year towards mental health. Its prosthetic and durable medical equipment coverage isn’t particularly high, but should be sufficient to cover the 25% of disability-related medical equipment costs not covered by OHIP.

Premiums start around $162/month for applicants ages 21-44 in Ontario.

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Cons:

2. Personal Health Insurance Standard Plan from Sun Life

Why we chose it: With the addition of Preventative Dental, the Personal Health Insurance Standard Plan from Sun Life provides a cost-effective way to cover the big three: prescription drugs, dental work and vision care. Not to mention paramedical services, accidental dental and emergency travel coverage that lasts the first 60 days of multiple trips.

The Personal Health Insurance Enhanced Plan provides even more value for money, but this is largely due to its extraordinarily high prescription drug coverage. Unless you regularly need to claim expensive prescriptions, the Standard Plan is likely your best option.

Premiums start around $152/month for applicants aged 18-44 in Ontario.

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Cons:

3. ComboPlus Enhanced Plan from Manulife

Why we chose it: The ComboPlus Enhanced Plan by Manulife can be a cost-effective option if you have high prescription drug costs. Plus, its annual maximums for dental coverage increase every year, covering 60% of oral surgeries, periodontics, and endodontics in Year 1 (and then 80% in Year 3+); and 60% of major and orthodontic services in Year 2+.

Premiums start around $194/month for applicants ages 18-44 in Ontario.

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Looking for something more budget-friendly?

PolicyMe’s Guaranteed Issue Economic plan is one of the cheapest health insurance plans in Ontario to offer drug, dental, and vision coverage with no medical questions asked.

What’s the best health insurance for seniors in Ontario?

Every senior in Ontario qualifies for prescription medication and eye exam coverage as soon as they turn 65. The best health insurance product is therefore a guaranteed acceptance dental insurance plan with coverage for prescription eyewear and paramedical services.

GreenShield’s ZONE 2 (Primary) plan requires no medical questions and covers 80% of basic dental services, plus 50% of comprehensive basic services (to a combined maximum of $500 in Year 1, $650 in Year 2 and $800 in Year 3+). However, its paramedic and vision coverage is quite low, covering just $20 per visit (to a maximum of $300/year per profession) and $150 for prescription eyewear every 2 years.

For more coverage, try PolicyMe’s Dental Care plan. You’ll receive 80% of basic and restorative dental services, plus 60% of comprehensive services, up to $750 in Year 1 and $950 in Year 2+; $250 towards prescription eyewear every 2 years; and 80% coverage for paramedical services (to a combined maximum of $750/year).

Premiums for ZONE 2 start at $94/month, while premiums for Dental Care start around $165/month for applicants aged 65 and over.

These quotes were collected October 20th, 2025. Your own quotes may differ. 

Methodology

There are many points to consider when choosing a health plan and provider, which we boiled down to three essentials:

Because the Canadian insurance industry is so highly regulated, we take each company's Financial Stability score as a given. Our rankings are based on each company's Customer Service score plus the Value for Money score of its highest-rated plan in the relevant category.

How much does health insurance in Ontario cost?

According to our research, the premiums for a guaranteed acceptance health insurance plan start around $90/month for a basic plan, $95/month for a mid plan, and $196/month for a premium plan for an 18-year-old in Ontario. 

The costs for a 65-year-old applicant increase to $152-$278/month, while kids below 17 can get covered for an average of $57-$163/month.

In 2023, the average household spent around $3,143 on out-of-pocket medical expenses (including private health benefits) in Ontario, compared to $3,087 for the average Canadian household. With the Guaranteed Issue Classic plan from PolicyMe, you could claim around $1,680 of the average drug, dental, vision, paramedical and medical equipment expenses per year. 

As for what you’d pay, here’s a comparison of the monthly health insurance quotes* for the top 3 health insurance plans in Ontario:

* Prices reflect the approximate costs for residents in the relevant age group in Ontario. These quotes were collected October 20th, 2025. Your own quotes may differ. 

What does the Ontario Health Insurance Plan cover?

Provincial healthcare in Ontario covers all medically necessary services through the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). With a valid health card, you’re covered for 100% of:

Although they aren’t covered by OHIP, ambulance services are heavily subsidized in Ontario. 

Outside of Canada, provincial health insurance covers emergency and non-emergency physician and hospital services, but only up to the rate normally paid at home. For example, OHIP reimbursement for emergency hospital services is capped at $400/day. Unless you bought travel insurance before going abroad, you’ll have to deal with the rest of the bill.

Read on for a quick overview of OHIP, including what it covers and for whom:

Additional government assistance programs 

You can also get coverage through the following assistance programs:
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How to find the best health insurance for you

The secret to buying health insurance is to know your needs and do your research. Here are 5 steps to finding the right fit for you and the most important questions at each stage:

1. Find your existing coverage: Take a look at your province’s public healthcare plan and your employer’s group health benefits to identify the coverage you already have. Are you using it completely?
2. Tally your existing costs: Add up your health out-of-pocket expenses during the past year (including the receipts for prescription drugs, dental work, and medical equipment) and any successful health insurance claims. Is there anything left over? How much?
3. Identify coverage gaps: These could be leftover expenses from successful claims or services that aren’t covered by public or group healthcare. How much money did you lose to coverage gaps last year? If you divide the total by 12, what’s the monthly cost?
4. Request health insurance quotes: Now that you know your coverage gaps, you can start to look for plans to address them. Do you need supplemental health insurance, vision, dental, paramedical services (like physiotherapy), or do you want to maximize your covered services? Are your expenses eligible? Are the premiums lower than the monthly cost of your coverage gaps? How long is the waiting period for coverage?
5. Calculate your savings: Read the fine print regarding each plan’s maximums, covered services, and fees. If you had bought it last year, how much money would you have paid in premiums? How much money would you have saved?

Don’t forget to take a hard look at the customer reviews for different health insurance companies. Good customer service is a necessity for making efficient use of your coverage—not to mention getting reimbursement when you need it!

FAQ: Best health insurance in Ontario