Supplementary health & dental insurance plans
You have access to some great coverage under the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) health & dental plans and Graduate Students Association (GSA) health & dental plans.
- supplementary health coverage requires you to already be enrolled in either a Canadian provincial health plan or UHIP
- Canadian or Permanent Resident students who are not covered by a Canadian provincial health plan must contact Student Financial Services to enrol in UHIP coverage for the three month waiting period for their provincial health insurance to become effective.
The University collects specific and limited personal information on behalf of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association and the Graduate Student Association. This information is used for membership administration, elections, annual general meetings, and the administration of student benefit plans and is disclosed to the two organizations and external plan providerssolely for those purposes. Students should contact the office of either group if they have any questions about this matter.
Who will be charged for coverage?
All full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students (excluding graduate programs designated as fully online) will automatically be charged for the WUSA health & dental plans or the GSA health & dental plans. These plans are supplementary health and dental insurance plans negotiated with Studentcare by the WUSA and the GSA on behalf of students.
Undergraduate Students
Important to note:
- Undergraduate students in Regular programs are charged a higher fee in the Winter term to ensure continuous supplementary health and dental coverage to the end of the Spring term (August 31).
- Exchange students enrolled for the Winter term are not charged the higher fee in the Winter term; their coverage expires April 30.
- Co-op students are charged at a rate that ensures continuous coverage during approved co-op work terms.
- Undergraduate students are charged the fees indicated in the chart above only during academic terms.
Graduate Students
Important to note:
- Graduate students are charged the fees for the GSA health & dental plans during active terms.
- Find out how to enrol your spouse &/or dependants in the GSA health and dental plans
What will I be charged?
Please refer to our incidental fees page to find information on your health and dental fees.
Who will NOT be charged and will NOT have coverage?
You will NOT automatically be charged for or enrolled in the WUSA/GSA health & dental plans, and will need to self-enrol if you are:
- a Regular (not Co-op) undergraduate student enrolled in Spring term, but who was not enrolled in the previous Winter term
- a graduate student on a co-op term
- a graduate student on an Inactive term
- an undergraduate co-op student who is not on either an academic or work term
- an undergraduate Co-op student doing consecutive work terms - you will not automatically have coverage during your second consecutive work term if you did not pay the WUSA health & dental charges during the term prior to the back-to-back work terms; contact www.studentcare.ca directly to confirm coverage
You are not eligible for coverage under the plans if you are a graduate student enrolled in a program designated as "fully online".
What if I already have other coverage?
If you have been charged for the plans, but you already have comparable coverage, you may be able to opt out of the plans.
You must pay the WUSA/GSA health and dental plan charges on your student account to have the registered status "Fees Arranged" each term. Then during the change-of-coverage period:
- you can opt out of the WUSA health (with proof alternate coverage) & dental plans
- you can opt out of the GSA health (with proof alternate coverage) & dental plans
If you opt out successfully, we will remove the corresponding charge(s) from each of your academic terms between September 1 and August 31 that year.
Questions?
If you have additional questions regarding the benefits under the health and dental plan, please contact Studentcare directly:
- For undergraduate students contact here.
- For graduate students contact here.
If you have questions about your Quest account, please contact Student Financial Services.