ROUTES TO CARE

A resource for pregnant people living in Toronto or the GTA with precarious or no immigration status

Is this guide for me?

This guide may be useful if you are pregnant, currently living in Toronto or the GTA, and:

you do not have OHIP
your immigration status is temporary, uncertain, expired, or unresolved
you are waiting for health coverage or immigration documents
you are a refugee claimant and are unsure how your coverage works
you have been told you must pay for care and do not know what to do next

This guide does not provide information about travelling to Canada to give birth.

This resource was created because people who already live, work, study, raise families, and build community in Toronto can lose access to healthcare when their immigration status or health coverage changes. Pregnancy does not pause while someone waits for documents, coverage, money, or a decision.

THE JOURNEY

Real journeys do not follow a straight line. Go forward, go back, or skip ahead. Start wherever you need.

START Check if you are pregnant

CALL Phone or walk in to a clinic TALK Say what you need ASK Get your questions answered

DECIDE Understand your care options PLAN Get ready for the birth DENIED If your newborn is refused OHIP, at any point after the birth CONNECT After the birth — find support near you

FIND CARE & SUPPORT Healthcare near you, plus legal, settlement, housing, food, safety, and family support

If you or your baby are in danger right now

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department. Hospitals must treat emergencies, with or without OHIP.

If you are having thoughts of harming yourself: call or text 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline, 24/7). Indigenous women: Talk4Healing, 1-855-554-4325 (24/7, 14 languages). If a partner is hurting you: Assaulted Women's Helpline, 1-866-863-0511 (24/7, multilingual).

For health questions that are not an emergency but cannot wait, call 811. It is Ontario's free health line, 24/7, with interpretation.