The Canada Health Act sets out the conditions for federal funding to support provincial and territorial health insurance plans with the goal of ensuring that every eligible resident of Canada has reasonable access to insured health service, regardless of where in the country they live.

However, for historical reasons, the Canada Health Act’s core principles of universal, publicly funded health insurance primarily apply to only medically necessary hospital and physician services (as well as some in-hospital dental) and, even then, there is no clear definition of what specifically should be funded.

As a consequence, people across the country find themselves with unequal access to insured health services, in spite of the Canada Health Act’s vision for a comprehensive, universal, and publicly funded health care system.