Manitoba health cards backlogged, what to do if you don’t have yours but need it?

Are you among the several thousand waiting for a health card in Manitoba?

If you are, a provincial spokesperson said your “date of coverage for an insured benefit will be backdated to either the date of (your) arrival in Manitoba or the date of (your) eligible legal status in Canada.”

“Clients can contact the service provider with their Manitoba Health Registration and PHIN number and have the provider bill Manitoba Health directly for the services to address payment,” the spokesperson said, adding that the process is similar for those with temporary health coverage.

As of last week, Manitoba Health said there were 9,180 health card applications to process.

It said that’s a 62 per cent decrease since November last year, when about 25,000 were outstanding.

According to the provincial health authority, just shy of 235,000 health cards were issued in the province in 2023.

In an emailed statement, Health Canada said it “is monitoring this situation” and notes that “the province has reduced its backlog significantly.”