Sleep care guides
Reviewed by Greg Kowalczyk, Founder · Last updated:
These guides explain how sleep care actually works in Ontario — what the public plan pays for, how a referral reaches a sleep lab, and which costs land on the patient. They are written to answer one question each, in the first sentence, and every figure is quoted from a source we fetched and named at the foot of the page.
What they are not is medical advice. We describe services, coverage rules, and logistics; we do not diagnose, recommend treatment, or tell you what you should do about your sleep. Where we could not verify a claim, we say so and leave it out rather than repeating it.
Snoring vs sleep apnea: how do you tell the difference?
Snoring is a vibration sound; sleep apnea is repeated airway collapse counted as events per hour. What the published literature says about why the sound cannot separate the two, and who settles the question in Ontario.
Updated
What is myofunctional therapy, and what does the evidence actually show?
Myofunctional therapy defined: the exercises, who delivers them, what a session targets, and what Cochrane, the 2015 meta-analysis, and two 2026 reviews found — certainty labels included.
Updated
Nasal strips vs mouth tape: what is the difference, and does either one help?
Nasal strips open the nasal valve from outside the nose; mouth tape seals the lips. Two different mechanisms, two different evidence bases — and neither is a sleep apnea treatment. What the systematic reviews actually found, quoted.
Updated
What happens at a pediatric sleep study in Ontario?
A parent's walk-through of a pediatric sleep study in Ontario: arrival time, the sensors, who stays overnight, what to pack, cancellation rules, referral routing and report turnaround — quoted from SickKids, CHEO and McMaster Children's own pages.
Updated
CPAP vs dental appliance: what's the difference, and what does Ontario cover?
What a CPAP system and a dental (oral) appliance each are, what the 2015 AASM/AADSM guideline tells clinicians about the two, how each one is fitted, and why Ontario's Assistive Devices Program funds one and not the other.
Updated
Is mouth taping safe, and what does the evidence actually say?
A 2025 systematic review by Canadian authors examined 10 mouth-taping studies and found the data does not support it. What the research reports, the asphyxiation risk four of those studies flagged, and who the studies excluded — with every source quoted.
Updated
Home sleep test vs in-lab study: what's the difference?
What a home sleep test records, what an in-lab (level 1) polysomnogram records, why the two produce different numbers, which one Ontario funds, and what the published guidance says — with every source quoted.
Updated
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea, and when should the question go to a doctor?
What Canadian guidelines and Statistics Canada actually report about sleep apnea symptoms — snoring, witnessed pauses, gasping, daytime tiredness — why symptoms alone settle nothing, and how the question is answered in Ontario.
Updated
How do I get a sleep study referral in the GTA?
The referral logistics for a sleep study in Ontario: who may write one under OHIP's Schedule of Benefits, what the written request must contain, what happens after it is sent, how to follow up under the CPSO's Transitions in Care policy, and the routes if you have no family doctor.
Updated
How much does a sleep study cost in Ontario, and what does OHIP cover?
What OHIP's own fee schedules pay for an in-lab (Level 1) sleep study in Ontario, the one-per-lifetime rule and what it actually applies to, whether a clinic may bill you, and what the Assistive Devices Program pays toward CPAP — quoted from the government sources.
Updated