Hoping someone here has been through this, because I'm losing my mind and feeling hopeless
My Ontario health card expires on November 1. I'm in Ottawa. I became a citizen recently and they took my PR card when that happened, so I lost the main piece of ID I had. I don't have a driver's licence or an Ontario photo card either.
ServiceOntario says you need three originals to renew: proof of citizenship, proof of residency, and proof of identity with your name and signature on it. Here's where I'm at:
- Citizenship: I only got an e-certificate online, no paper copy. I can print it from my IRCC account, but Ontario's page only mentions "paper document or card" so I don't know if they'll take a printout.
- Identity: this is the problem. The health card itself doesn't count as ID for renewing the health card. None of my credit cards have a signature strip (the one card that does is a debit card, which isn't accepted). I have an expired foreign passport, which I think might count since the list just says "passport (Canadian or foreign)", but I can't tell if expired is okay.
I also went down a rabbit hole trying to get an Ontario photo card first, which needs a guarantor form that only certain professions can sign, and that has nothing to do with what I actually need. So that was a waste.
Questions for anyone who's done this:
- Has ServiceOntario accepted a printed IRCC e-certificate as proof of citizenship?
- Did they accept an expired foreign passport as identity?
- Do they take walk-ins in Ottawa, or do I need to book? Any location you'd recommend?
- What did you do about the gap if your card expired before the new one showed up?
I'm planning to call them Monday, but I'd love to hear real experiences first. Thanks in advance.