Error code
R05 — Invalid province code for RMBS
Wrong province for out-of-province billing
The province code was ON or Quebec, which can't be used for Reciprocal Medical Billing.
What to do: Resubmit Ontario residents as regular OHIP claims; for Quebec residents, bill the patient or Quebec Medicare.
- Code
- R05
- Description
- Invalid province code for RMBS
Explanation
Updated October 26, 2026
R05 means the province code (ON or Quebec) can't be used for Reciprocal Medical Billing. Ontario patients are billed with their OHIP number.
What it means
Error R05 means the province code on the Reciprocal Medical Billing (RMB) claim isn't valid for RMB. The Ministry's condition is a province code of 'ON' (Ontario) or 'PQ' (Quebec) on a claim that is not an Outaouais claim.
RMB is for patients insured by other provinces and territories. Ontario residents are billed under OHIP with their Ontario health number, and Quebec is not part of RMB.
Common causes
- An Ontario patient's claim was sent with payment program RMB
- A Quebec patient's claim was sent through RMB
How to fix it
- For an Ontario resident, resubmit as a regular OHIP claim with their Ontario health number.
- For a Quebec resident, don't bill through RMB. The Ministry's Error Report message for this case says to bill the patient or Quebec Medicare.
- Resubmit within three months of the service date if you can. If that window has passed but the claim was first submitted on time, use the Ministry's stale-dated resubmission process.
Don't resubmit if
- The patient is a Quebec resident and the claim is still set up as RMB.
How APEX handles it
APEX reads your error reports and remittance advice from MCEDT and lists claims rejected with this code in its Correction Centre for you to correct and resubmit. See how APEX works · Pricing