One change at a time, a number to measure it against, and a date to come back and check it. Some of it is publicly funded in Ontario: nicotine replacement mailed to your door at no cost, prescription quit-smoking medication if you have provincial drug coverage, and cognitive behavioural therapy free from 18.
What the visit covers
- Quitting smoking, and what your drug coverage pays for
- Weight, waist and blood pressure, measured rather than estimated
- Sleep that is not working, and whether something treatable sits behind it
- Working up to 150 minutes of activity a week from wherever you start
- How much you drink, counted in standard drinks
- A date to come back and see whether it moved
What Ontario pays for, and the numbers to aim at
Ontario names five places to go for quitting, and you can reach most of them without a doctor. Health811, online or on 811, for general quit support. Smokers' Helpline at smokershelpline.ca, where you register for online programs and text-message support. The CAMH STOP program, for nicotine replacement therapy at no cost. CAMH's Nicotine Dependence Clinic, for specialized care. The Indigenous Tobacco Program at tobaccowise.com.
The nicotine replacement is the one you can start tonight. You enrol in STOP yourself, online at intrepidlab.ca, if you live in Ontario: six weeks of quit-smoking medication, free, mailed to you within about two weeks of signing up. Read its eligibility page before you sign up. No clinic sits in the middle of that one.
Prescription medication is a different route, and it depends on your drug plan. The Ontario Drug Benefit covers two quit-smoking prescriptions from age 18, varenicline and bupropion, plus up to a year of pharmacist-assisted counselling alongside them. Varenicline is a Limited Use drug: your prescriber writes a reason-for-use code, reimbursement is capped at 12 weeks in any 365 days, and the condition attached is that it goes together with quit-smoking counselling. Ask the pharmacy by the drug name rather than by a brand name.
The Ontario Drug Benefit reaches you if you are 65 or over; 24 or younger with no private plan; receiving Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program benefits; living in a long-term care home; receiving professional home and community care; or enrolled in the Trillium Drug Program. If none of those describes you, the prescription is yours to pay for, and the free nicotine replacement above is the cheaper place to start.
Activity: 150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity, plus muscle-strengthening work on two days. Canada's 24-Hour Movement Guidelines set no minimum length for a session, so three brisk ten-minute walks a day is the whole aerobic target. The same guidelines put a ceiling on sitting — eight hours a day, no more than three of them recreational screen time.
Sleep: seven to nine hours a night up to 64, seven to eight from 65, and bed and wake-up times that stay roughly the same. The consistency is part of the recommendation, not an extra.
Weight: two numbers, from Health Canada's classification for adults. A waist at or above 102 cm (40 in.) in men or 88 cm (35 in.) in women goes with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. BMI runs 18.5 to 24.9 for normal weight, 25 to 29.9 overweight, 30 and over obese. The cut-offs are approximate, and a waist just below one still deserves attention. Written down once, either number is trivia; written down again later, it is information.
Drinking: bring a count rather than an impression. Health Canada puts one standard drink at a 341 ml bottle of 5% beer or cider, a 142 ml glass of 12% wine, or a 43 ml shot of 40% spirits — 17.05 ml of pure alcohol in each case. Add up a normal week in those units before you come.
What OHIP covers
The visit itself is covered by OHIP. What is not: prescription drugs filled outside a hospital, and anything done for you outside a hospital by a provider who is not a physician — so a private dietitian or personal trainer is your own cost. Therapy is the exception worth knowing about. Ontario Structured Psychotherapy is cognitive behavioural therapy, free of charge, for anyone 18 or over; a physician or nurse practitioner can refer you, and in some areas you can refer yourself.
Walk in, or book?
This is not a walk-in question. Call 647.479.3152 and book, and say which of these you want to start with. How to quit smoking, for one, looks different depending on whether you have provincial drug coverage.
What to bring
- Your health card
- The one thing you most want to change
- A list of everything you take, including over-the-counter medication and supplements
- Numbers you already have: cigarettes a day, home blood-pressure readings, hours slept, drinks in a normal week
- Any blood work from the past year, if another clinic or lab has it
Questions people ask
Can I get nicotine patches without paying for them?
Yes, and you do not need this clinic to do it. CAMH's STOP program mails six weeks of quit-smoking medication, free, to Ontario residents who enrol online at intrepidlab.ca; allow about two weeks for it to arrive, and check the eligibility rules on that page first. If you would rather talk the options through with a doctor before starting, book a visit. And if you qualify for the Ontario Drug Benefit, your pharmacist can start counselling covered under it.
How much activity do I actually need, and does a ten-minute walk count?
150 minutes a week of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity, plus two days of muscle-strengthening work. Canada's 24-Hour Movement Guidelines set no minimum length for a session, so a ten-minute walk counts and the week adds up in whatever pieces you can manage. Walking to the bus and back counts if you walk it briskly.
I sleep badly. Is that worth a visit on its own?
Yes — and say when you book that sleep is the reason, so the visit is set up for it rather than squeezed onto the end of something else. Adults need seven to nine hours up to 64, and seven to eight from 65. Bring two weeks of rough bedtimes and wake-up times; that is more use to a doctor than a description of how tired you feel.
Still have a question? Call the front desk.
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