Bill C-201, titled An Act to amend the Canada Health Act (mental, addictions and substance use health services), proposes to amend the Canada Health Act. Its stated goal is to add mental health, addictions and substance use health services to the Act’s definition of “insured health services”; this is a proposal, not a change shown here as in force.
Provincial health care insurance plans would have to insure these newly included services when provided by hospitals, medical practitioners or dentists.
The definition would include these services when provided in community settings.
Similar or additional services from other health care practitioners would have to be insured where provincial law permits.
The amendment keeps the exclusion for health services a person is entitled and eligible to receive under a federal or provincial workers’ compensation law.
People who use these services: If enacted, the bill would bring some mental health, addictions and substance use services within the Act’s definition of insured services. It does not specify a list of covered services or guarantee that any particular service will be available.
Provinces: Their health care insurance plans would have a duty to insure the services covered by the amended definition, subject to the conditions in the bill.
Other health care practitioners: Their similar or additional services are included only where provincial law permits. The bill does not say which practitioners or services qualify.
The amendment does not itself set out an application process, service standards, or a direct way for an individual to claim coverage.
The bill does not define what counts as a mental health, addictions or substance use health service.
It does not set out which community-based services or practitioners would qualify.
It does not explain how coverage would work in practice, including service standards, timelines, or appeals.
The supplied material does not include the full current Canada Health Act, so the bill’s interaction with the Act’s existing rules and any related funding consequences cannot be verified here.
The bill does not define the services it would include, leaving the scope of the new duty unclear.
Coverage of similar or additional services from other practitioners depends on provincial law, so the bill does not establish a uniform rule for those services.
Provinces would face an insurance requirement without any cost estimate or explanation of how added costs would be funded.