A Health Care Covenant for All People in Canada

A Health Care Covenant For All People in Canada

Through government, we in Canada pledge to: Universal Access, Comprehensiveness and Portability

• provide access to comprehensive health care services for individuals, families and communities that
places the priority on the worth and dignity of the whole person and their biological, emotional, physical, environmental, social and spiritual needs wherever they may be in Canada;

Social Solidarity and Justice

• uphold a health care system through which all people in Canada share the benefits of health and the burdens of illness with particular compassion for the weak, caring for the vulnerable, solidarity with our neighbours and a commitment to social justice for all;

Open to All People in Canada

• preserve inviolate a health care system that applies to all people in Canada without discrimination toward race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, ability, disability, ethnic origin, language, place of residence, economic status, religion or any other distinction;

Social Health and Well-being

• utilize a systemic approach to creating public policies that, intentionally integrate the social, economic, cultural and environmental determinants of well-being with health;

Human Right and Public Good

• ensure that access to health care is maintained as a human right and a public good, recognizing that health care interactions have meaning to people as a place of caring; health care is not a commodity;

Honour the Vocation and Contribution of All Health Care Providers

• utilize fully the capabilities of all health care professionals, including indigenous practitioners covered under the Canada Health Act, and honour the vocation of all who provide care, whether paid or unpaid;

Public Stewardship and Accountability

• safeguard public administration and limit for-profit delivery of care through mutually enforceable federal and provincial regulations upholding standards of public accountability for a system that addresses the health care needs of individuals, families and communities;

Collaboration and Shared Responsibility

• develop and sustain a health care system founded upon the principles of collaboration and shared responsibility between governments and among providers, not competition or market imperatives; and

Participation and Decision-making

• recognize that health is unique to individuals, families and communities and as such, to honour the right of people to participate in the decisions that affect them and their health