Military Family Health Portal

For information on how to apply for a health card, click on your province or territory of residence found on the Government of Canada’s website.

MD Connected

Book a virtual visit with a family doctor/GP. This service is available in BC, AB and ON from 8am to midnight, 7 days a week and is covered by valid BC, AB and ON health cards.

Ontario Virtual Care Clinic

This is a provincially funded and operated virtual care clinic that is free for all ON residents with a valid OHIP card, available 7 days a week, 8 am until midnight. French language services are available between 4pm and 8pm, 7 days a week.

Maple

Maple and Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services are collaborating to provide online doctor visits to dependents of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members living in Canada. It is a safe and effective way to access routine health care from the comfort of your home, 24/7.

Family Information Line

A confidential, personal, bilingual and free service offering information, support, referrals, reassurance and crisis management to the military community. Serving Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families – immediate and extended.
Phone: 1-800-866-4546 | Email:
FIL@CAFconnection.ca  to schedule a video session.

Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program

A voluntary and confidential service initiated by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to help members (Regular Force, all Reserve Class Members, Cadets) and family members who have personal concerns that affect their personal well-being and/or work performance.
Phone: 1-800-268-7708 | Teletypewriter: 1-800-567-5803

Your Quick Guide to Mental Health Services – Military Family Services

This guide is designed to help military families access important information and timely mental health support services in their local communities.

You’re Not Alone – Government of Canada
Canadian Armed Forces members have access to a range of programs while serving in the Forces, including exceptional medical and mental health care, support for families, and comprehensive reintegration and return-to-work programs for those who are ill and injured.

Mental Health – CAF Connection

Finding balance, mental health programs and services, mental health resources and facts.

Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR)

R2MR training encompasses the entire package of resilience and mental health training that is embedded throughout Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members’ careers, during deployment, and to CAF families.

Mental Health Services Framework – Military Family Services Program

A conceptual overview of the types of mental health programming available to families. These services range from outreach and engagement, to peer support, to psychoeducation, to psychosocial services to mental health treatment. Its purpose is to provide clarity to MFRCs, service providers and other community partners.

Therapist Assisted Online (TAO) 

The TAO therapy is an online platform of tools and educational materials to help you learn about and change how you think and feel. Along with the educational materials in the platform, every week you will be completing a short mood survey and meeting online with your therapist in a brief video conference.

Maltby Centre – Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington 

Free, confidential and accessible mental health and autism services to children, youth and their families in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox &Addington (KFL&A). Maltby Centre is the Lead Agency for Moving on Mental Health in KFL&A and the Lead Agency for the Ontario Autism Program in the province’s Southeast Region.

Shoppers Drug Mart Mental Health Self Check 

SHOPPERS LOVE.YOU. and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have partnered to raise awareness and promote women’s mental health across Canada. This site includes an interactive tool that Canadian women can use to learn more about their mental health.

Strongest Families Institute 

Strongest Families offers evidence-based, distance programs for military and Veteran families dealing with behaviour and/or anxiety concerns with their children/youth. Phone-based programs are delivered at convenient times, offering support when and where you need it. There is no cost for families and services are entirely confidential.

CAFconnection

The Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) website offers extensive health-related resources specific to each province and territory, as well as relocation resources.

Contact your nearest Military Family Resource Centre for local information, as they may have programs in place to further assist with obtaining a health card or finding healthcare providers.

MFRC Near You

Located on CAF bases and wings, local Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) are the hub of military communities. MFRCs provide programs and services that empower and encourage strong, independent individuals and families.

Below is a list of resources that may assist your family doctor in understanding the unique circumstances of military life. It might be helpful for you to share these resources with your doctor or pediatrician. Several of these tools have been developed thanks to a close collaboration between
Military Family Services, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society.

Quick Reference Guide for Military Families When Meeting with a Health Care Provider, Calian Health, Military Family Services, The Vanier Institute of the Family, CIMVHR (October 2019).

This quick reference guide was developed by the Innovation to Impact working group as a tool to help military families enhance their interaction with health care providers. It is a companion guide to the Quick Reference Guide for Health Care Practitioners Caring for Military Families.

Caring for Military Families in the Patient’s Medical Home, The College of Family Physicians of Canada

This guide is intended to help family physicians understand the unique experiences and realities of being a member of a military family and to familiarize them with the resources that are currently available to provide equitable health care to military families.

Family Physicians Working with Military Families, The College of Family Physicians of Canada

The military community has defended Canada’s values, interests and sovereignty at home and abroad. Service members’ families proudly contribute on the home front and are the strength behind the uniform.

Caring for Children and Youth from Canadian Military Families: Special Considerations, Anne Rowan-Legg, Canadian Paediatric Society

Military families experience a number of life stressors, such as frequent geographical moves, long periods of separation within the family, geographic isolation from extended family support systems and deployments to high-risk areas of the world. While children and youth in military families experience all the same developmental and motivational trajectories as their civilian counterparts, they must also contend with more unusual developmental pressures and stressors placed on them by the unique demands of military life. The effects of the military life on families and children are beginning to be recognized and characterized more fully. Understanding the unique concerns of children and youth from military families and mobilizing specific resources to support them are critical for meeting the health care needs of this population.

Caring for Canadian Military Families, Heidi Cramm, Alyson Mahar, Cathy MacLean and Richard Birtwhistle, Canadian Family Physician, January 2019

This article outlines some of the health care challenges that Canada’s military families may face and provides an overview of the state of current research on the health of Canadian military families.