Deadline to renew Ontario health card extended

Service Ontario office in Kingston, Ont., on March 23, 2016. (Lars Hagberg/The Canadian Press)

Ontario residents now have another eight months to get their health cards renewed.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the provincial government said they were extending the deadline to renew health cards to Sept. 30.

In an effort to keep people from gathering at Service Ontario locations when the pandemic was first declared, the government said that any identification cards, including the Ontario Photo Health Card, that expired after March 2020 did not have to be renewed.

As the situation improved, the government reinstated renewal requirements.

The original deadline for health cards to be renewed was Feb. 28.

"In response to the pandemic our government extended the renewal requirements for Ontario health cards," Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a statement.

"While the majority of Ontarians have continued to renew their documents throughout the pandemic, we are committed to ensuring all Ontarians have the opportunity to renew while continuing to access the care they need, when they need it.”

Ontario residents will be able to continue using expired health cards until the new September deadline.

The deadline to renew drivers licences, licence stickers and other vehicle products remains Feb. 28.