The gaps in a student health plan are dates, not clauses.

The three dates that matter

1. The day you land. No provincial coverage, no student plan. This is the exposed window and it is often two to six weeks long.
2. The day your institution’s plan starts. Usually tied to the start of term, not to your arrival. Check the exact date on your student services page.
3. The day it lapses. Many plans end if you are not enrolled over the summer, or if you drop below a full-time course load.

Cover the first window with a short-term visitor medical policy. It costs a fraction of what students expect, and the alternative is a non-resident hospital bill during your first month in the country.

Opting out, and not paying twice

Most Alberta institutions bundle health and dental into student fees with an opt-out window of a couple of weeks at the start of term, on proof of equivalent coverage. If you are covered under a parent’s plan, or hold a policy from home that meets the standard, this is worth checking immediately — the window closes early and does not reopen.

What student plans usually do not include

• Coverage outside Canada, including trips home.
• Care for a condition that existed before the plan started, in some contracts.
• The summer term, unless you are enrolled.
• Anything for family members visiting you.

The one insurance conversation worth having at 22

Not life insurance for its own sake. But if a parent or relative co-signed a student loan or line of credit, that obligation survives you and lands on them. A small term policy naming the co-signer as beneficiary is inexpensive at your age and closes that gap completely. It takes one form.

The other thing worth doing early: understand how TFSA room works. It starts accruing once you are a resident of Canada for tax purposes and 18 or older — not from 2009. Getting that wrong is the most common expensive mistake newcomers make.