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Fact Sheet - Canadian Health Care System |
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Canada has a predominantly publicly financed, privately delivered health care system, known as Medicare. Medicare provides Canadians access to universal, comprehensive coverage for medically necessary hospital, in-patient and out-patient physician services. The federal government, the provinces, and the territories share the responsibility of the health care system in Canada.
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The federal government is responsible for:
The provincial and territorial governments are primarily responsible for the administration and delivery of the health care services, and for the planning, financing, and evaluating the provision of hospital care, physician and allied health care services, as well as managing some aspects of prescription care and public health. For example, the provinces decide where their hospitals will be located, how many physicians they will need, and how much money they will spend on their health care systems. Another example of a provincial responsibility are the health insurance cards.
The provincial and territorial health ministries are regulated by what the federal government has created as the national standard, the Canada Health Act. With the condition that these standards are met, the provincial government receives full federal cash transfer contribution under the transfer mechanism, that is, the Canada Health and Social Transfer.
The stated goal of the Canadian health insurance program is to ensure that all Canadians receive reasonable access to medically necessary insured services without direct charges. There are two groups of services covered by the Canada Health Act.
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Selected resources: Canada's Provincial and Territorial Health Ministries Canadian Social Research A selection of links with information about the future of health care in Canada Health Canada Home Health Canada Online/Canada Health Act The Romanov Comission Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada- appointed by the federal government of Canada to make “recommendations on sustaining a publicly-funded health system that balances investments in prevention and health maintenance with those directed to care and treatment.”
Tommy Douglas Research Institute An independent non-profit Canadian economic and social research and educational organization. The organization’s “objective is the redirection of public attention to the respective role of both the large business sector and governments in providing for the well-being of Canadians.”
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