Health, Dental and Drug Insurance in Montreal
Provincial health coverage handles a lot, but not everything. Health, dental, and drug insurance fills the gaps that come up in everyday life.
Quebec's public health system covers a meaningful share of medical care, but it doesn't cover everything. Prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, and paramedical services like physiotherapy or psychology often fall outside provincial coverage or come with limits. Health, dental, and drug insurance is designed to fill that space.
This matters most for people without full workplace benefits, including the self-employed, business owners, and families navigating a change in employment. This page covers what these plans typically include and how to think about coverage as circumstances change.
This is a common gap for self-employed residents of Griffintown and the Plateau-Mont-Royal, who often have no employer plan to fall back on at all.
What these plans typically cover
Health, dental, and drug plans generally bundle coverage across a few categories: prescription medications, dental care from cleanings to more significant procedures, vision care, and paramedical services such as physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, or mental health support. Plan structures vary widely, from basic drug and dental coverage to more comprehensive packages.
Gaps in workplace coverage
Even people with employer benefits sometimes discover gaps once they need to use them: annual maximums that run out partway through the year, limited paramedical coverage, or dental maximums that don't stretch far for a family. Understanding what's actually covered, and what isn't, is often the first step before deciding whether additional coverage makes sense.
Self-employed individuals and business owners
Without an employer plan, health, dental, and drug costs come directly out of pocket unless personal coverage is arranged. For incorporated business owners, there can also be a question of whether a health spending account or group plan makes sense at the corporate level, which is worth discussing alongside broader corporate financial planning.
Families managing ongoing expenses
For families, dental visits, orthodontics, prescriptions, and vision care add up steadily over the years. A plan sized to a family's actual usage patterns, rather than the cheapest available option, tends to hold up better over time.
Planning around a changing employment situation
Health coverage often changes at the exact moments life is already busy: leaving a job, starting a business, going on parental leave, or retiring before age 65. Thinking through health, dental, and drug coverage as part of those transitions, rather than after a gap has already appeared, tends to produce better outcomes.
What to review before choosing a health, dental, and drug plan
- What am I currently covered for through work, if anything, and what are the annual limits?
- What does my family actually spend each year on dental, vision, and prescriptions?
- Am I self-employed or a business owner without any group coverage in place?
- Is a life change coming up, like leaving a job or starting parental leave, that will affect my coverage?
- Would a corporate health spending account make sense for my business?
Areas we serve
Health, dental, and drug insurance questions we hear often
It covers a meaningful share of core medical care, but prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, and paramedical services are often only partially covered or excluded, which is where supplemental coverage typically helps.
It depends on your plan's limits. Some employer plans have modest annual maximums for dental or paramedical services that don't fully cover a family's actual usage.
Without an employer plan, health, dental, and drug costs are typically paid out of pocket unless personal coverage is arranged, so this is often a earlier priority for the self-employed than for salaried employees.
In some cases a health spending account or group plan can be structured at the corporate level. This is worth discussing alongside your broader corporate financial planning.
Employer-sponsored health, dental, and drug coverage typically ends when employment ends, which is a common trigger for people to look at personal coverage.
Many plans include paramedical services such as physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, or mental health support, though coverage amounts vary significantly by plan.
Yes. Terms vary by insurer and plan, and we don't guarantee specific premiums or coverage levels. Reviewing your plan periodically helps ensure it still matches your needs.
See where your health coverage may have gaps.
Bring your current benefits summary, or just your questions. The first conversation is about clarity, not pressure.
Not sure how this fits your situation? Tell us what you're working through and we'll help you identify the right place to begin.