Universal health coverage promotes access to necessary care and protects patients from health-related financial hardship that may affect health outcomes. The World Health Organization declared that governments are obligated to promote universal coverage of essential health care services, including prescription drugs. [1][2][3][4] Given the importance of reducing out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs, universal access to affordable, safe and appropriately prescribed treatments is an important goal for health systems in all countries. 2-5 However, approaches to universal health coverage for prescription medications or universal pharmacare varies according to the population covered (who), health products and technologies (what) and the extent of coverage (proportion of direct costs covered). The amount spent on prescription drugs, including per capita spending, has significantly increased over time. [4][5][6][7] Health system expenditure on prescription drugs has also increased in many countries, often growing faster than other health system costs. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Therefore, implementing universal pharmacare can enhance equitable access to needed care and medicines, which is central to the ongoing debate about the need for a national pharmacare program in Canada. 11 Although Canada's provincial and territorial health systems provide a single-payer system with coverage for medically necessary hospital and physician-based care, this universality does not extend to outpatient prescription medications. [2][3][4][5] Instead, prescription drugs are funded by a fragmented patchwork of public and private drug plans that varies by province and leaves many Canadians with little or no drug coverage. [4][5][6] Children and youth are a vulnerable population, and studies that have investigated coverage variation have shown that younger adults are the most disadvantaged in coverage. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] In