Universality
Medical care is to be provided to all residents of a province regardless of age or condition or ability to pay.

Accessibility
Each province is required to provide health care with reasonable access both financial and geographic. This applies to ward care in a hospital, free choice of a physician, reasonable compensation to physicians and adequate payments to hospitals.

Comprehensiveness
Each provincial plan must cover insured services provided by hospitals, private medical practitioners and other related health care services provided on the request of a physician. This varies from province to province according to what services are listed as essential.

Portability
Health services must continue to be covered when residents move from one province to another. It is supposed to cover Canadians temporarily out of the country.

Non-profit Administration
Provincial health care plans must be publicly administered and operated on a non-profit basis, and subject to public audit.