Which of the following is NOT a criterion of the Canada Health Act?

The criterion that is not part of the Canada Health Act is profitability. The Canada Health Act is designed to ensure that all Canadians have access to medically necessary hospital and physician services without direct charges at the point of care. The Act includes several principles that govern the healthcare system in Canada: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility.

Public administration refers to the requirement that provincial health insurance plans be administered on a non-profit basis by a public authority. Comprehensiveness ensures that all medically necessary services are covered, while accessibility guarantees that services are available to all Canadians without financial or other barriers. Profitability, on the other hand, is not a principle enshrined in the Canada Health Act; in fact, the Act emphasizes that health services should not be profit-driven, but rather should serve the public interest and health needs of the population. This distinction is fundamental to understanding the objectives of Canada's healthcare system.