Health Insurance
Moving from another Canadian province
If you have moved to Alberta from another province or territory and intend to live here for at least 12 months or more, you must request coverage by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) within three months of establishing residency in Alberta.
In Alberta, your coverage begins the first day of the third month following the date you established residency in the province. If you submit a request later, the date of effect of your coverage is determined when you register. For example, if you establish permanent resident status in Alberta July 12th, your coverage will take effect October 1st.
While waiting to receive your personal Alberta health insurance card, continue to use your health insurance card from your previous province or territory to access insured health services.
The 3 month waiting period to benefit from health services does not apply to military families in Alberta.
Reimbursement
If your partner or dependents plan on joining you in Alberta later, you must maintain coverage for your family and yourself within your previous province or territory for a maximum of 12 months.
If your partner and dependents join you before 12 months, coverage will apply to all the first day of the third month following their arrival, or the first day of your thirteenth month, whichever comes first.
Moving from outside of Canada
If you move, immigrate, or return to Alberta, you may be admissible to coverage starting on the date of establishment of residency in Alberta. You must submit your request within 3 months of establishing residency and provide all required documents.
If your AHCIP request is not received in the three months following your arrival and your permanent residency in Alberta, the date of effect of your coverage will be determined when your request is processed.
If you have an immigration document from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, you may be admissible to AHCIP coverage.
Your eligibility depends on:
- The type of entry document you have;
- Any restrictions indicated on the document;
- The duration you are authorised to be in Canada;
- Your commitment to live in Alberta for 12 consecutive months;
- A Canadian travel visa is not an accepted document.
Certified entry documents
In certain cases, the partner/spouse of an eligible resident or a person under the charge of another country may be eligible to AHCIP coverage if they have a dated entry stamp on their passport. The Canada Border Services Agency does not automatically stamp or date passports. Request a dated stamp at the time of entry.
If you are temporarily in Alberta to attend school full time and you intend to return to your province or territory of residence after your studies, you must maintain your health insurance coverage with your province or territory of residence.
If you study outside Canada, you may be admissible to AHCIP coverage. Look up information on health coverage for students and foreign students from outside the province.
If you are temporarily in Alberta for work, whether you maintain your residence in another province or territory and you return home regularly, you must retain your health insurance coverage in your province or territory of residence.
If you are from outside Canada, you must intend to live in Alberta for at least 12 consecutive months to be able to benefit from AHCIP coverage. Look up information on temporary residents.
Contact
Communicate with the Alberta health insurance bureau. To learn more about the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP), please click on the buttons below :
Vehicle
License Plates
Obtain a license plate
You may buy a license plate from an agent at a registry. To obtain a license plate, you will need:
– Your driver’s license;
– A bill of sale or proof that the vehicle belongs to you.
Your license plate must be located in one of the following locations:
– If the vehicle is a motorcycle, it must be on the rear mudflap in a clearly visible location;
– For all other types of vehicle, it must be on the rear of the vehicle.
Transferring a license plate to a new vehicle
If you already have a license plate and a valid registration and wish to use them on a new vehicle, you may request to transfer these. For more details, look up information on transferring a registration.
Returning a license plate
If you have left Alberta or you no longer need your license plate, you may return it to any registry agent in person or by mail. To return a license plate by mail, fill out the form to declare cancellation of a license plate / parking plate. Once the license plate is returned, your file will be updated to indicate that you are no longer in possession. You may also cancel your license plate by submitting a registration cancellation.
Vehicles purchased outside Alberta
Registration for a vehicle purchased within Canada
If you bought the vehicle outside Alberta but within Canada, you must perform one of the following operations:
– Out-of-province inspection; or
– Commercial inspection (if a commercial vehicle)
The inspection you perform depends on the type and status of your vehicle.
Before going to an inspection station, you must obtain an inspection request from a registry agent.
Out-of-province inspections
A vehicle purchased outside of Alberta but within Canada, must succeed an Alberta out-of-province vehicle inspection to be able to be registered.
A new vehicle may be exempt from the obligation to receive an out-of-province vehicle inspection depending on the date of sale, mileage, and location of purchase. Talk to a registry agent to know if your new vehicle is admissible.
Off-road vehicles such as ATVs and skidoos, utility vehicles and tow trucks do not require out-of-province inspection.
Out-of-province inspections may be performed in any automobile shop or garage.
*For service in French: Pride Automotive provide francophone inspectors on request when making an appointment.
Registration for a vehicle purchased outside of Canada
If you purchased the vehicle outside of Canada, you must obtain the appropriate inspection and provide importation documents.
Bring your proof of ownership and the vehicle importation form from Transportation Canada – Form 1 to a registry agent and obtain an inspection request.
To register an imported vehicle, you must provide the following items:
– Proof of ownership for the vehicle;
– Your out-of-province, safety, or commercial inspection;
– For new vehicles: an information document on new vehicles (NVIS or E-NVIS) or an origin certificate;
– A vehicle importation form from Transportation Canada – Form 1, Vehicle importation form – VIF, Vehicle importation form – Exempt, or a letter from an importer who is licensed in matters of prior authorisation.
You must also provide the standard registration documents such as:
– Proof of ownership or previous registration;
– Alberta proof of insurance;
– An Albertan address;
– Personal identification.
Contact
Hours: 8:15am to 4:30pm (open Monday to Friday, statutory holidays)
Phone : 780-427-4088
Toll-free: 1-877-427-4088
Email: mv@gov.ab.ca
Link: https://www.alberta.ca/licence-plates.aspx
Moving Fees
Generally, you may deduct moving fees you have paid in the current tax year if you fulfill the following two conditions:
- You moved for a job or to run a business, or you moved to attend a postsecondary program in a university, college, or other educational institution as a full-time student.
- You moved at least 40 kilometers closer to your new work or study location.
During your move, you must keep the receipts for your expenses in order to prove these expenses (gas, meals, hotel, plane…)
To know more: Government of Canada
Income Tax
Alberta has the highest base amounts for personal and joined income taxes in Canada. This means that Albertans are able to earn more before being obligated to pay provincial taxes. When all taxes are taken into consideration, Albertans of all tiers of revenue generally pay lower taxes than other provinces.
Personal Income Tax Rates
In 2015, the government implemented a progressive tax structure in order to reduce our dependence on volatile revenues from non-renewable resources and to generate additional revenues to finance the public services and infrastructure that Albertans benefit from. The rates are determined by tier.
Tax credits and rebates
The Government of Alberta offers two reimbursable tax credit programs for families with children. Together, these programs should provide around 328 million dollars to Albertan families in 2018-2019:
- Alberta Child Benefit (CBA)
- Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit (AFETC
For more information
Lodging
Appartments, homes, condos, and rooms, are easily found online on different websites such as Kijiji, Facebook Marketplace, and online rental websites.
There are also different Western Francophone and Québécois groups on Facebook where you may easily obtain recommendations for services available in French, at least until you are able to familiarise yourself with services in English here.
Ex : Québécois in Edmonton / Francophones dans l’ouest / Les belles de l’ouest
Here are the easiest links to shop for lodgings. The first link targets searches by the sector of the city where you wish to live.
Support for Studies
The Government of Alberta reimburses qualified educators with a Level 1 or Level 2 certification up to a maximum of $1000 per year.
A maximum of 50% of this amount may be reimbursed for training and/or conference purposes.
The total amount may be applied for course reimbursements in order to obtain a higher level of certification.
Educators with a Level 3 certification are not eligible for reimbursements via this specific fund.
An employee must be part of a pre-licensed or licensed centre for a minimum of 2 months before being eligible for reimbursement, while performing more than 28 subsidized hours /month.
Declarations of reimbursement requests are effective from April 1 to March 31st of the current year. The reimbursement fund is therefore renewed after March 31 annually. The reimbursement application deadline for the current year is February 15th. After this date, the reimbursement will be taken from the following year’s fund.
The employer must therefore disburse the employee’s training fees and the employee will then be able to make a reimbursement request to the government a maximum of 30 days after the training is held.
An employee with a Level 3 certification may submit their application to obtain a grant from the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Alberta.
Reimbursement requests may be submitted to the Government of Alberta for all training taken from April 1st to March 31st of the current year.
Subscribe to the FPFA newsletter
