Health and Safety

 

Staying Safe
Mental Health & Wellness
  • Feeling sad or anxious and need to talk to someone? You can seek support from those around you or anonymously contact services like Good2Talk.  
  • The Centre for Sexual Violence Response, Support & Education is the recommended first point of contact for survivors who have experienced sexual violence and will support all members of the York Community, including students, staff and faculty.
Staying safe on campus with York Security For urgent safety incidents call Security Services at 416-736-5333 and for non-urgent safety matters call 416-650-8000. In life-threatening situations where people or property are at immediate risk, call 911 first, then call Security Services.
Staying safe off campus Call 9-1-1 in an emergency

Information for family, friends and supports of international students

Are you a family member, parent or friend of an international student but you're not in Canada?  If you're worried about the safety of your student or there is an emergency, please call York Security.

York Security
Urgent Situations:  416-736-5333
Non-urgent Safety Matters:  416-650-8000

If you are looking to get in touch with Toronto Police Service, please follow these steps:

  1. If you are concerned about the immediate safety of an international student who lives off campus, please follow these steps:
    • Call the non-emergency line for Toronto Police: +1 416-808-2222
    • Inform the switchboard that you are calling from out of Canada and are concerned about the safety of an international student
    • Ask to be switched to Emergency
    • Inform the Emergency line of the situation
  1. If you are concerned about an international student who lives off campus and would like the Toronto Police to check in with the student, please follow these steps:
    • Call the non-emergency line for Toronto Police: +1 416-808-2222
    • Ask to be switched to the Communications Department
    • Once connected, Inform the Communications Department that you are calling from out of Canada and are concerned about an international student living off campus
    • Ask for a wellness check to be performed by Police
    • Provide the address and any other contact information you have of the student you are concerned about.

Health Insurance Coverage

Medical Emergencies in Canada

For clinic or emergency room visits, make sure you take a paper copy of your UHIP card. If possible, use a healthcare provider that accepts UHIP. Note the tips below regarding health care providers:

  • Preferred provider: you can find the list of clinics and hospitals that accept UHIP on the UHIP website. These providers can bill COWAN/Manulife (the insurance company that administers UHIP) directly.
  • Non-preferred provider: if you visit a non-preferred provider where they don’t accept UHIP, you can file a claim. For information regarding how to submit a claim, please follow the instructions on the UHIP website.

To access your UHIP card, you should visit the Cowan portal and enter in your First Name, Last Name and Date of Birth alongwith with ‘Certificate Number’ that would have been emailed to your @yorku.ca or @my.yorku.ca email address directly by the insurance company. Hence, it is extremely important that you activate your YorkU email address. You can find instructions on how to activate your YorkU email address.

Don't have your UHIP card? Don't worry because you can visit a clinic or emergency room without it if you need urgent care, pay for the service then file a claim within 12 months of receiving the service. For information regarding how to submit a claim, please follow the instructions on the UHIP website.

Note regarding claims: You may not get 100% of your money back and you may incur some out-of-pocket expenses. You can contact COWAN directly for more information about this via 1-833-377-8447 (phone) or UHIP.RAMU@cowangroup.ca (email).

Health and Dental Insurance Coverage

If you are filing a claim for a dental or prescription medicine or glasses, you will need to do so through your extended plan. For more information regarding your extended plan, please visit either York Federation of Students (YFS) if you are an undergrad student or Graduate Student Association (YUGSA) if you are a grad student.

Travelling Outside of Canada

No one plans on getting sick or hurt while travelling, but if it happens, it's good to know your health insurance coverage.  Here are two steps to take to check your coverage and make sure you're set:

Step 1: Check your student union health plan. Travel insurance is a part of your extended health and dental plan, which is administered by your extended plan outlined under 'other insurance coverage'.

Step 2 (optional): Purchase an additional travel plan if you need to. If you want more coverage than offered by the extended health plan, you can purchase a private travel plan.

For details and to understand your travel insurance coverage, visit the UHIP page here.

**Note that non-essential travel is discouraged at this time.