This guide covers changing your name and/or gender marker (“sex designation”) on your Manitoba Health Card through Manitoba Health.

What You Can Change

You can change your name on your health card as soon as your legal name is changed. (If it has not yet been changed, see the guide for Vital Statistics.)

You can change your gender marker to “M” (male), “F” (female), or “X” once your legal sex designation has been changed. (If it has not yet been changed, see the guide for Vital Statistics.)

What You’ll Need

• If changing your name: A copy or scan of a legal name change document from a provincial or territorial vital statistics agency (such as the Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch), a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship, or a permanent resident card.
• If changing your sex designation: A copy or scan of a birth certificate or change of sex designation certificate from the jurisdiction your gender marker was changed in. (such as from the Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch).

Wait Times

As of writing, Manitoba Health quotes a service standard of four weeks for demographic changes to existing Manitoba Health Cards, but states they are processing requests from months ago. Their website may quote more up-to-date information on the state of their backlog.¹

CBC and Xtra Magazine both reported in July 2022 that some individuals had been waiting for over a year to receive their health cards^{2 3}, while the Winnipeg Free Press reported in October 2023 that health card delays were lasting “months, not weeks”, with Manitoba Health processing requests from June 9 at the time.⁴

Instructions

If changing name: Fill out and sign the Name Change form.⁵

If changing sex designation: Fill out and sign the Change Sex Designation form.⁶

Once done, send any completed forms and copies or scans of documents to Manitoba Health, by email at insuredben@gov.mb.ca, or mail to:

Registration and Client Services Unit

Manitoba Health

300 Carlton Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 3M9