Retiring out of Ontario: OHIP, taxes and selling your home

Retiring out of Ontario OHIP questions come down to three things: whether Ontario is still your primary home, how many days you spend away, and where you are going next. The short answer on health coverage is that Ontario says you may have to reapply if you are outside the province for more than 212 days in any 12-month period, and that coverage after a permanent move to another province continues only until the last day of the second full month after you leave. This guide sets out what the official pages say and where to ask for the rest.

What happens to OHIP when you leave Ontario

OHIP is tied to living in Ontario. On its health card eligibility page, ontario.ca lists the basics: you must be physically present in Ontario for 153 days in any 12-month period and make Ontario your primary residence, and you must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or hold another listed status. That is the test that matters when you are deciding whether a long stay elsewhere puts coverage at risk.

The same page adds the line most retirees are looking for. If you have been outside of Ontario for more than 212 days in any 12-month period, you may have to reapply for OHIP at a ServiceOntario centre. Ontario does not describe 212 days as a safe allowance for any reason you like, so treat it as the point at which you should already have spoken to ServiceOntario. The province's own pages on health cards and applying for OHIP are the source to check.

Moving to another province: how long OHIP lasts

If you relocate permanently within Canada, ontario.ca says OHIP continues until the last day of the second full month after you leave Ontario. After that you need coverage from your new province or territory, and Ontario tells you to apply there once you arrive. Each province runs its own plan and sets its own rules, so ask the new province's health ministry whether it applies any waiting period and what it needs to see.

Two practical points follow. First, keep your Ontario health card valid with current personal information until the coverage ends. Second, the province recommends private health insurance for things OHIP does not pay for outside Ontario, and its page lists prescription drugs, ambulance services, private hospital fees, home care and assistive devices as not covered. If you are moving between provinces, ask your new province how it treats drugs and home care, because those are often the costs retirees notice first.

Wintering in the south: days away and OHIP

Many Ontario retirees keep a home here and spend part of the year in a warmer place. For that pattern the numbers to hold on to are the 153 days of presence in Ontario and the 212-day reapplication trigger above. Spreading a long trip across two calendar years does not change the count, because Ontario speaks of any 12-month period, not a calendar year.

Ontario also has a separate route for longer planned absences from Canada. Its page on OHIP coverage while outside Canada says that if you plan to be outside Canada for more than seven months in a 12-month period, you can keep coverage for up to two years if you hold a valid health card, make Ontario your primary home and have been in Ontario for at least 153 days in each of the two 12-month periods immediately before you leave. If you think you may be away that long, ask ServiceOntario in advance rather than after the fact.

What OHIP pays for outside Canada

Even with valid coverage, OHIP is not travel insurance. The province states that emergency services outside Canada are reimbursed at the lower of the actual charge or the Ontario rate for physicians, plus fixed daily maximums for hospital care. The figures on the page are $50 a day for outpatient emergency care, $200 a day for a standard hospital stay and $400 a day for intensive care, operating room and similar units. Costs in many countries run well above these amounts, which is why the page points to private insurance.

The page also says OHIP does not cover transfer to an Ontario hospital for ongoing care, and that an illness must be acute and unexpected, not a pre-existing condition. You must submit original receipts and a detailed statement. When you shop for travel health insurance, read how it defines a pre-existing condition and what it does about repatriation, and ask the insurer rather than assuming.

Tax residency when you retire out of Ontario

OHIP and tax residency are different tests and can point in different directions. For income tax, the CRA's page on determining your residency status says it turns on whether you keep significant residential ties with Canada. Primary ties are a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada and dependants in Canada. Secondary ties include personal property, memberships, bank accounts, a Canadian driver's licence, a passport and provincial health insurance.

The CRA uses several categories. A factual resident keeps ties while living or working abroad temporarily. A deemed resident has not established significant ties but stays in Canada 183 days or more in the year. A non-resident lacks significant ties and either lives abroad for the year or spends fewer than 183 days in Canada. An emigrant leaves permanently, sets up a home elsewhere and severs residential ties. Your classification takes effect on your departure date.

Notice what this means for a winter in Florida or Arizona. If you keep your Ontario house, your spouse stays here and you hold an Ontario health card, those ties point to remaining a Canadian resident, whatever your day count. The CRA offers an optional Form NR73 to help it determine your status when you leave. We cannot tell you which category you fall into, and a cross-border tax accountant can.

What the CRA says about property when you leave Canada

The CRA's page on dispositions of property for emigrants explains that when you cease to be a resident you are generally deemed to have sold certain property at fair market value on the day you leave. Several categories are excluded from that deemed sale, and the list includes Canadian real property and registered plans such as RRSPs and TFSAs. The page also says Form T1161 is required if the total fair market value of the property you owned at departure exceeds $25,000.

So the Ontario home itself is not treated as sold on your departure date. Any gain is dealt with when it is actually sold. That is why the timing and your residency status at the time of the sale matter, as the next section explains. Registered plans are outside the scope of this page, and the tax treatment of pensions and withdrawals once you are non-resident is a question for the CRA or an accountant.

Selling the Ontario home when you move to another province or country

If you move to another province and remain a Canadian resident, the rules are the ones covered in our guide to capital gains and selling your principal residence. The CRA's principal residence page says that if the property was your principal residence for every year you owned it, no tax applies to the gain, but you must report the sale and designation on your return. The details are on the CRA page linked from that guide. Ontario has no land transfer tax for sellers, since the buyer pays it; see land transfer tax in Ontario.

If you are leaving Canada, the picture changes. We did not confirm on a CRA page how the principal residence exemption applies to a sale made after you become a non-resident, so we will not state it. Ask the CRA or a tax professional whether you should sell before you leave, as a non-resident or after returning, and what the exemption would cover in your case.

Non-residents also face notification steps. The CRA says a non-resident disposing of taxable Canadian property must notify it on Form T2062, with notification required within 10 days of the date of disposition, and that a certificate of compliance protects the buyer. If no certificate is issued, the buyer may have to withhold 25 per cent of the proceeds, or 50 per cent for certain types of property. Late notification carries a penalty of $25 a day, to a maximum of $2,500. Ask your real estate lawyer whether these steps apply to your sale and how they affect closing day. Our net proceeds guide and the net proceeds calculator help you plan the numbers before that conversation.

Checklist before you retire out of Ontario

• Write down the planned dates of every long absence for the next two years and count the days in any 12-month period.
• Call ServiceOntario about your health card before you leave, and note the date OHIP ends if you are moving to another province.
• Ask the new province's health ministry how and when to apply, and what it requires.
• Buy private travel and out-of-province health insurance and read the pre-existing condition wording.
• Book time with a cross-border or international tax accountant before you list the home or change residency.
• Ask your lawyer whether any non-resident sale steps will apply to your closing.
• Review the costs of selling and moving in the costs and money overview.

Sell, keep or rent: questions to settle first

Keeping the Ontario home can be a reasonable bridge, especially if you are trying a new province or country before committing. It also keeps a significant residential tie alive, which may affect both tax residency and your OHIP position, and it brings ongoing costs for insurance, taxes and upkeep. Selling simplifies those, but the order of events matters more than people expect. Our guide to buying first or selling first covers the timing, and aging in place or moving looks at the care and cost side of the decision.

If you are clearing a long-held home, clearing out your home and moving day sets out the practical steps, and preparing an older home for sale covers what to fix. For agencies and phone numbers, see resources. If you want to talk through selling, contact us.