A/HRC/41/34/Add.2 14. In May 2018, the State underwent its third universal periodic review. Canada accepted, among others, the recommendation that it ensure the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights.9 The Special Rapporteur welcomes that particular acceptance as, in terms of the right to health, it will enhance the commendable public health approach that has been implemented in-country for years and will ensure the understanding of health beyond its public service notion as a human right. 15. The public health approach indeed advances standards that are compatible with the essential elements of the right to health concerning accessibility, availability, acceptability and quality, as well as access to health-related information, education and information, including on sexual and reproductive health rights. The current public health approach in Canada also includes a solid equity approach aimed at reducing health disparities. It focuses on the needs of persons in the most vulnerable situations by paying special attention to their social determinants of health, such as education, income and housing, as well as accessible and affordable food. This is welcomed and in line with further aspects of the right to health, which considers food, nutrition, education and housing as underlying determinants of health and their linkages with poverty.10 16. In Canada, a human rights-based approach to health will further improve accountability and enhance the protection of the right to physical and mental health through, inter alia, improved avenues for seeking effective remedies when the enjoyment of the right is not ensured. This includes issues such as the denial of medical treatment and others. This approach will further complement the equity approach by bringing forward the principles of non-discrimination and equality, so that no distinction, exclusion, restriction, preference or other differential treatment is made in the exercise of the right to health on grounds such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.11 17. The human rights-based approach will moreover bring the notion of the indivisibility, interdependence and interrelation of all rights. It will shed light on the centrality of the right to health to, and its dependency upon, the realization of other rights, including those already recognized by the public health approach, i.e. food, housing, work and education, but also rights that support human dignity and the rights to life, freedom from torture, privacy, access to information and participation, and the freedoms of association, assembly and movement. 18. In sum, a human rights-based approach will support Canada in implementing the normative framework by which it has abided and in complying with its obligations under international human rights law. The justiciability of the right to health, defined as those matters that are appropriately resolved by the courts,12 will not be fully realized in Canada with such an approach. 19. Likewise, realizing the right to health and related rights in the country is key to ensuring the good health and well-being of all people living there. It is also key to the important role Canada plays as a model for many countries and its position in international cooperation. Canada should ensure that its international support for other countries is in line not only with evidence-based data but also with a human rights-based approach. National legal framework 20. The Constitution of Canada contains a series of acts and instruments, including two main documents (the Constitution Act, 1867 and the Constitution Act, 1982) and a set of unwritten principles and conventions. Constitutional amendments enacted in the Constitution Act, 1982 included protections of individual rights and freedoms in the 9 10 11 12 See A/HRC/39/11 and A/HRC/39/11/Add.1. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 20 (2009) on nondiscrimination in economic, social and cultural rights. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant. 5