Travel

Core Rotation Travel and Academic Travel

NOSM University provides funding for travel to clinical placement sites for core rotations and for electives in Northern Ontario. Travel is also funded for any mandatory academic sessions in each program. All travel expenses must comply with the NOSM University Travel Management and General Expenses Policy for travel and accommodations. Taxpayers of Ontario through the Ministry of Health fund residency programs. Residents and NOSM University administration all have an ethical and legal responsibility as citizens and professionals to use this funding in the most cost-effective manner for its intended purpose.

Reimbursement Details

To be reimbursed for travel, your reimbursements must be submitted via the Expense Reimbursement online platform found under MyNOSM, by logging in with your NOSM University credentials. Submission steps/instructions along with the appropriate documents/forms are found by clicking on the appropriate expense icon.

Residents may only submit reimbursement claims for themselves and cannot include expenses for other residents.

Residents must retain original itemized receipts in support of the electronic claim for a period of 24 months from the date of submission and you may be required to produce original receipts upon request of the Finance unit or external auditors.

Note: Claims must be submitted within 3 months of the expense being incurred. Expenses incurred in the months of January, February and March must be received in the PGME Office no later than May 15th annually. Fiscal year end deadlines will be well communicated to residents in the bi-weekly resident e-bulletin, The ‘Script. Reimbursement requests submitted after the May 15th deadline will not reimbursed.

Meal Allowances

The provision for meals in the Travel Management and General Expenses Policy is capped at the amounts listed below.

Maximum meal allowances are inclusive of taxes and gratuities.

The current NOSM University meal allowances are:

Breakfast: $17.00
Lunch: $17.00
Dinner: $31.00
Total: $65.00

Receipts are not required to be submitted or retained.

Note: Meals are provided during travel to academic events and to core rotations away from home-base. Meals are not provided once a learner has arrived at their rotation.

A reminder that proof of travel is still required for all travel claims. Proof of travel would include one of – airfare or boarding passes, hotel or Airbnb statements, conference attendance confirmation, gas receipts, meal receipts, or other incidental receipts at the destination.

Rental Vehicles

Rental vehicles may be provided while on rotation in exceptional circumstances. Requests must be submitted in writing to the program coordinator for program approval outlining distance travelling, block number, on-call requirements and local transit requirements. Approval is at the discretion of the program manager based on criteria of distance, time of year, cost and safety concerns.

Rental vehicles are not normally provided during rotations away from home base. There may be exceptions, based on safety, and residents must submit rationale to their Program Coordinator when requesting rental vehicles. The rationale will be submitted to the PGME Office for approval.

Travel Companion

Travel expenses of a companion during long distance drives in excess of 1495km are approved for safety purposes based on the following stipulations:

• The distance is equivalent or greater than 1,495 KM

• Mileage can only be counted once per vehicle – meals for the companion would qualify and flight home using the least expensive carrier possible booked in advance with a maximum fare of $500.00 inclusive of tax is allowed.

• Documentation must accompany the travel claim for the companion noting the above qualifications. The individual must be reimbursed and not the resident.

Flight Bookings

Flight bookings must be arranged a minimum of 2 to 4 weeks prior to travel to avoid higher costs of late bookings. Residents will be required to submit proof of the booking date with reimbursement requests. The program prior to processing the reimbursement will flag flights booked within 2 weeks of travel for follow up with resident. Residents may be required to submit an explanatory statement.

How to Book Travel

Residents may book travel independently or using NOSM University’s Corporate travel agent RedTag. To see the benefits of using RedTag please review the following:

RedTag Corporate Services

Using RedTag Services

When using RedTag, the cost of travel can be paid with your credit card or billed to the NOSM University corporate account as authorized by the specific Program Coordinator.

RedTag Contact information:

Telephone: 807-345-6555
Toll-free: 1-800-465-3993
Email: travel@nosm.ca
After hours emergency: 1-888-567-9411 – member code O432
Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm; Saturday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Independently Booking Travel
When booking travel independently, please follow the recommendations outlined below and submit expenses via the online reimbursement system.

You can SAVE on accommodations and car rentals by taking advantage of negotiated NOSM University rates as posted on the NOSM University intranet at NOSM Finance or via email at purchasing@nosm.ca.

You can also SAVE corporately and personally with Porter Airlines or Air Canada: When flying on one of these airlines, NOSM University learners receive a discount off the airline’s publicly posted fares purchased through the airline’s online corporate direct booking channel.

The Corporate Travel programs will only function with a resident NOSM University email address. If you would like to be enrolled in these travel programs, please send a message to purchasing@nosm.ca to request enrollment in either the Porter NOSM University Discount Program or the Air Canada Corporate Program. You will receive an email from the carriers to confirm your enrollment and be given steps to begin setting up your account.

*Note: The discount outlined here does not constitute a binding agreement; Porter Airlines and/or Air Canada may discontinue this program at any time. Changes to these discount program will be communicated to the school.

Additional Details

Unless academic travel is mandated at the end of a block (which is covered), a round trip to the declared residency home base will also be funded in between blocks for residents who are on consecutive rotations away from home base. For residents who chose Option 2 for housing, the trip home in-between blocks will be an ineligible expense.

Please note that trips outside of those described above will NOT be paid for unless they have been expressly approved by the program in writing and your expense form is authorized by your program before you request reimbursement.

Travel to certification exams is not covered by NOSM University and is a personal responsibility of trainees.

Reimbursement for taxi charges will be provided where accompanied by receipts if residents feel unsafe to drive post call. See procedures surrounding “Travel Safety” in the Resident Safety Policy in the Resident Safety section.