Approximately 800,000 people live in Northern Ontario, which encompasses the Districts of Algoma, Nipissing, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Timmins and Thunder Bay. Shortages of physicians and their maldistribution have plagued the region since before OHIP’s introduction in 1969.

In his November 2008 article Strategies to overcome physician shortages in northern Ontario published in the journal Human Resources for Health, Raymond Pong notes that the Ontario UAP (Underserviced Area Program) has bee n in operation since 1968. Pong found that during the period 1968 to 2004, 40 “policy instruments” or programs were pursued under the UAP. One of the more recent programs is the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) Program, introduced in April 2006.

Because of low population density in the north, patients who live there have to travel long distances to access the specialized diagnostic and treatment services they require. Maldistribution and shortages compound the problem, but the NHTG Program mitigates the costs associated with health-related travel. 

The NHTG Program has two components: a travel allowance grant, which at the time of writing is 41¢ per kilometre for return travel exceeding 100 kilometres, and an accommodation allowance of $100 for eligible trips to destinations farther than 200 kilometres from the patient’s area of residence. 

Ineligible are grant applications that fit any of the following exclusions.

  1. The care is related to a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board claim
  2. Another government program or organization pays for the travel
  3. Health care service is not an OHIP insured benefit
  4. The patient’s round trip travel is by ambulance
  5. The health care service is provided by a non-RCPSC-certified medical specialist and/or a non-RCPSC-certified physician in Winnipeg (Manitoba) who is not enrolled on the Manitoba Health Specialist Register or the health care service is provided by a physician who does not hold a specialist certificate of registration issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) in a recognized medical or surgical specialty other than family or general practice

To qualify, patients must be referred to a specialist or designated facility by their attending physician and applications must be completed by the patients and their referring physician.

A patient does not require a referral if:

  • He/she has previously applied for an NHTG with a previous referral (within 12 months) to the same facility or specialist
  • A female patient is between 50 and 60 years of age and is travelling to an Ontario Breast Screening Program site
  • A female patient is travelling for abortion services

For more information visit the NHTG Program website. You may also download the NHTG application form.