Understanding Travel Insurance: A Guide for Canadian Travellers

By Amy Davoli, Owner & Travel Advisor
Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

Let’s Talk About Travel Insurance And Why It Really Matters

We know! Travel insurance isn’t the most exciting part of planning your dream vacation. When you’re daydreaming about sandy beaches or exploring ancient ruins, the last thing you want to think about is insurance paperwork. But we’ve been doing this for a long time, and have seen too many heartbreaking situations where a simple insurance policy would have saved someone thousands of dollars and a whole lot of stress.

So let us walk you through it. Our goal isn’t to sell you something you don’t need. It’s to make sure you understand what you’re protecting and why it matters.

Your Trip Is a Big Investment

Travel isn’t cheap. Whether it’s a romantic getaway, a family adventure, or that bucket-list trip you’ve been saving for, you’re investing a lot of your hard-earned money. And trips come with a lot of moving parts that can go wrong before you leave, while you’re travelling, and even on your way home.

That’s where travel insurance comes in. It’s your financial safety net. Yet so many people decline it without really understanding what they’re turning down, usually because they’re trying to save money or think they’re already covered through work or their credit card. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Timing Is Everything: The 72-Hour Window

Buying within that window gives you access to the most comprehensive policy with the best coverage options. It also unlocks “Cancel for Any Reason” coverage, which can reimburse you for up to 80% of your trip cost if you need to cancel for a reason that isn’t on the standard covered list.

Already missed that 72-hour window? Don’t panic. You can absolutely still purchase a policy. The coverage will just be slightly different, and your “Cancel for Any Reason” reimbursement would typically be around 50% instead of 80%.

Wait—What About the “Insurance” My Tour Operator Offers?

This one confuses a lot of people! If your tour provider offers “insurance,” read the fine print carefully. Unless it’s actually through a licensed insurance company, what they’re offering is typically a protection plan, not true insurance, and there’s a big difference.

Tour operator protection plans usually let you change your travel dates or destination, or cancel within a certain timeframe before departure. Each company’s plan is different, so check their terms and conditions to see whether you’d get a refund or just a travel credit.

Here’s what these protection plans typically don’t include:

• Trip interruption coverage
• Emergency medical coverage when you’re out of the country
• Lost or delayed baggage coverage
• Any of the other benefits that come with actual travel insurance

They can be helpful for basic flexibility, but they’re not a substitute for comprehensive travel insurance.

Understanding Cancellation Insurance

Cancellation insurance protects you from the moment you purchase your policy until the moment you leave your home to start your trip. Its cost is based on two things: the total cost of your trip and your age.

It’s designed to protect you from unexpected events that force you to cancel. There are 27 specific covered reasons that would allow you to file a claim and receive a full refund for your non-refundable trip costs, including:

• Sudden illness or injury, whether yours or a family member’s
• Death in the family
• Unexpected job loss
• Jury duty
• Your home becoming uninhabitable due to fire, flood, or natural disaster
• And many other unforeseen circumstances

But what if you need to cancel for a reason that isn’t on that list? Maybe you just don’t feel comfortable travelling anymore, or something came up that’s important to you but doesn’t fit the covered categories. That’s where “Cancel for Any Reason” coverage comes in.

It doesn’t give you a full refund, but it does give you back a significant portion of your trip cost. If you purchase the Manulife Premium Protection Plan within 72 hours of your deposit, you can get up to 80% back. With other policies, or if you purchase outside that 72-hour window, you’d typically get around 50% back.

This is why we always recommend purchasing insurance when you first book your trip, not weeks or months later.

Trip Interruption Insurance: The Coverage Most People Forget About

Trip interruption insurance picks up where cancellation insurance leaves off. It protects you from the moment you leave your house until the moment you return home. Here are some real-world examples of what it covers:

Getting to the Airport:
You’ve left your house and there’s an accident on the highway. You can’t get to the airport in time for your flight. Trip interruption insurance can help cover the cost of rebooking.

Flight Delays and Cancellations:
The airport delays or cancels your flight. Your insurance can cover meals, hotel accommodations, and transportation you need because of that delay or cancellation.

Rebooking on Another Airline:
Your airline doesn’t have another flight that works with your schedule, and you need to book with a different carrier. That can get expensive fast, but your insurance can cover it.

Missing Part of Your Trip:
If you miss a portion of your cruise or land tour due to delays, you can receive a prorated refund for the part of your trip you lost.

Emergency at Home:
There’s an emergency back home and you need to cut your trip short and get home immediately. Your insurance covers the cost of changing your flights and getting you home.

Without trip interruption coverage, every one of these expenses comes straight out of your pocket, and a last-minute flight change alone can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. With it, you simply keep your receipts, open a claim when you get home, and submit everything for reimbursement.

A Bonus Benefit: Flight Assist

Here’s something really cool that comes with Manulife’s Trip Interruption coverage: Flight Assist. And it’s completely free, just included as part of your policy!

Flight Assist will quickly deposit money into your account if you experience long flight delays, giving you fast access to funds for things like meals, hotels, or transportation while you’re dealing with the delay. And it’s in addition to your regular trip interruption benefits, so you get help right away and can still file a claim for reimbursement later.

How It All Works Together

Cancellation and Trip Interruption insurance typically come bundled together as one package, which makes it really easy to protect your entire trip from start to finish. The price of your policy is based on four main factors:

• The total value of your trip
• The total length of your trip
• Your age
• When applicable, any pre-existing medical conditions

These combined policies also include coverage for lost or delayed baggage, another common travel headache that can cost you money.

If you need emergency out-of-country medical coverage, we can make sure your policy includes it. Emergency medical insurance can also be purchased on its own if you don’t want or need cancellation and interruption coverage.

For Canadians, this part matters on every trip outside the country: your provincial health plan covers very little, if anything, once you leave Canada. Even a quick getaway to the U.S. can mean very expensive medical bills without proper coverage.

“But I Have Insurance Through Work…”

We hear this one a lot! About 99% of the time, the insurance coverage you get through your employer is emergency out-of-country medical insurance. That’s definitely valuable, but it doesn’t cover trip cancellation and interruption.

So if you get sick or injured while travelling internationally, your work coverage might help with medical bills. But if you need to cancel before you leave, your flight gets cancelled and you need to rebook, or you lose your luggage, your work insurance won’t help with any of that.

“My Credit Card Has Travel Insurance…”

Many credit cards do offer some form of travel insurance, but the coverage varies wildly from card to card. Some offer pretty decent coverage, while others have very limited protection with lots of exclusions and low limits. If you’re planning to rely on yours, take the time to dig into the details:

• What specific situations are covered
• What the dollar limits are for each type of coverage
• What the exclusions and restrictions are
• Whether you need to book your entire trip on that card to be covered
• What the claims process looks like

You can usually find this on your credit card company’s website, or call them and ask. The reality is that credit card coverage is often much more limited than a dedicated travel insurance policy, and the limits might be lower than the actual cost of your trip.

Not All Insurance Is Created Equal

Different insurance companies offer different benefits, coverage limits, exclusions and claims processes. Some policies are comprehensive and generous. Others have lots of fine print that might leave you without coverage when you need it most.

This is exactly why booking with a travel advisor helps. We work with reputable insurance providers, understand the policies inside and out, and can help you choose the coverage that actually makes sense for your trip.

Making Insurance Part of Your Travel Budget

You’ve worked hard for this trip, and you’ve probably been planning and saving for months, maybe even years. Travel insurance should be part of your budget right from the start, just like your flights and hotels. You wouldn’t buy a car or a house without insurance, and your vacation deserves the same kind of protection.

The peace of mind alone is worth it. If something unexpected happens, whether you get sick, there’s a family emergency, your flight gets cancelled or your luggage goes missing, you can focus on handling the situation knowing the financial piece is taken care of.

Let’s Find the Right Coverage for You

Travel insurance can seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s what we’re here for! Every trip and every traveller is different, so our job is to help you understand your options, answer your questions (you’ll find more answers on our FAQ page), and make sure you have the coverage that makes sense for your trip and your budget.

Reach out today and we’ll get you a personalized quote and walk you through exactly what would be covered. No pressure, no sales pitch, just honest advice. Because at the end of the day, we want you to have an amazing trip and make incredible memories without worrying about what might go wrong!

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