Advocating for equitable access to health care services for everyone – regardless of their insurance or immigration status.

The Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC)

The Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC) is a network of over 80 health and community service organizations and individuals who have been working together since 2007 to improve access to health care for people living in the Greater Toronto Area without public health insurance (OHIP). We believe access to healthcare is a basic human right, and promotes social inclusion supporting better health and social outcomes for all. 

Image of young diverse people protesting, chanting and holding protest sign that reads: No Justice No Peace.
Image of two young diverse queer black women sitting side by side.

Why healthcare for all?

The right to health is a human right. This means that everyone, based on their status as a human (not on their immigration status) should be able to access adequate healthcare and to live under conditions that allow them to stay healthy. There is no right to health in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but Canada has signed an international treaty agreeing to support the right to health.

Woman wearing a cloth face mask holding a baby strapped in a carry-on.

Canada has a universal healthcare system, but in reality, it is not. Canadian citizens and permanent residents generally have access to public health insurance in their province, but many people living in Canada with temporary or no immigration status do not have access to this system. 

The Need

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As the Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC), we believe this incredibly complex system locks people out of accessing the healthcare they need, where they need and when they need it.

The System

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The Healthcare Services

We believe our healthcare system must be universal, accessible, high quality and entirely publicly funded for all. Here are a variety of healthcare services accessible to people living in GTA without OHIP. 

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As the Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC), we advocate, do research, create resource materials and educational opportunities, all in an effort to build community capacity and pathways to dignified access to care. 

Resources

  • “[The end of the PHSUP policy] created a situation where you’re having to rely on band-aid situations and people to go above and beyond and outside the scope of their role in order to help patients who would otherwise fall between the cracks.”

    HNUC Two Steps Back Report

  • “We’re not making medical decisions, we’re making financial decisions.”

    HNUC Two Steps Back Report

  • "If you’re uninsured, you live in fear constantly. You’re afraid to trip on the street, you’re afraid your child might fall."

    Manavi Handa, RM, HNUC Member

  • "Taking the cost out of someone accessing healthcare means people are not having to choose between rent and groceries versus getting necessary health care."

    HNUC Member

  • “Uninsured people in Ontario face significant challenges when seeking health care due to a number of overlapping structural barriers.”

    HNUC A Bridge to Universal Healthcare Report