Actually, in this case, it has been accepted previously. When used with other bills to validate address. CIC does accept it for sponsors at the landing interview.Health card is not an acceptable form of photo ID in Ontario for some reason... lol but maybe in this case because they want to verify they may accept it.
Otherwise, no, it's not photo ID. There is a good reason: it's technically like a credit card. You're not supposed to use it for ID, as the number never changes; only the version code (last two letters).
People have also tried to use their SIN as ID. You cannot do this either.