A family doctor keeps one file on you and works from it: the test, the result, the medication and the referral all sit in the same record. Whether the practice can take you on right now is a question for the front desk, so call before you come in.
What the visit covers
- A first appointment long enough to go through your history
- Prescriptions started, reviewed and renewed
- Referrals to specialists, and requisitions for blood work and imaging
- Results gone through at a follow-up
- Long-term conditions followed with regular reviews
- Notes and reports OHIP does not pay for — ask what each one costs
Getting a family doctor in Ontario
Health Care Connect is Ontario's matching service. Register at ontario.ca/healthcareconnect, or call 811 (TTY 711), answered 24 hours a day. You need a valid Ontario health card number and some basic health information. A letter comes in the post to confirm the registration, and a care connector then looks for clinicians who are taking patients, urgent cases first. When there is a match, a referral letter arrives by post with the name of the clinician or team, and that office contacts you to book the first appointment. Ontario is straight about the limit: joining "does not guarantee that a primary care clinician will be found for you immediately".
New to Ontario? Apply for OHIP in person at a ServiceOntario centre — there is no online application — and take three original documents: one proving your citizenship or immigration status, one proving Ontario residency, one proving your identity. There is no longer a waiting period; if you are eligible, coverage starts immediately. Until the card is in your hand, ask the desk what a visit costs. You are entitled to that price before the appointment, not on the way out.
What you get once you have one is the record: results, medications, immunizations, what was tried and what it did, rather than a history reassembled from memory each time. The screening that comes due with age is tracked in the same place; the ages and the intervals are set out on the physicals and screening page.
What OHIP covers
OHIP covers the full cost of a medically necessary visit to a family doctor, whether you come in or the visit is by video or telephone, and medically necessary lab tests at a community lab. It does not cover prescription drugs you collect from a pharmacy, unless the Ontario Drug Benefit or OHIP+ pays for yours, and it does not cover care handled only through secure messaging with no call.
Walk in, or book?
Book it. A first appointment needs enough time to go through your history properly, and ask for the next one before you leave. If the problem is new this week, walk in instead.
What to bring
- A valid Ontario health card, and one for each child you bring
- Your medications in their bottles, including anything bought without a prescription
- The name, clinic and address of the doctor you saw before
- Any results, hospital discharge papers or specialist letters you hold copies of
- Your immunization record, if one exists, from anywhere you have lived
Questions people ask
Is there a fee to join the practice?
No. A doctor cannot charge you for an undertaking to be available to provide services to you, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario counts making an appointment, making a referral and reviewing your medical history as part of the insured service. If a practice offers a yearly block fee for uninsured extras, it cannot refuse to accept you as a new patient because you would rather not pay it.
Can an appointment be done by phone or video?
OHIP covers a medically necessary visit by video or telephone, so it costs you nothing. What is not covered is care handled only through secure messaging, with no call. Whether this clinic offers phone or video appointments, and for which problems, is a question for the desk.
How do my records get here from my old doctor?
The clinic that holds them has to be asked for them. Copying or transferring a medical record is not an insured service, so there can be a charge for it. Take the previous doctor's name, clinic and address to your first appointment, and ask the desk who sends the request — you, or them.
Still have a question? Call the front desk.
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