Premiers and territorial leaders across Canada may be able to finally take a collective sigh of relief as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tables a funding offer to help Canada’s struggling health care system. The provinces are already scheduled to get a 9.5-per-cent increase in healthcare transfers this year, amounting to $49.4 billion from the $45.2-billion in projected payments in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The funding proposal announced February 8th from parliament totals $196.1 billion over the next 10 years. The meeting with provincial premiers and territorial leaders will not be a signing ceremony said Trudeau, on Wednesday, as negotiations will need to continue before the deal is completed. The federal and provincial governments will be negotiating bilateral agreements, which will target key areas such as primary care, long term care, and mental health, that addresses the specific needs of each province and territory. “We know that is what Canadians expect. Whether it is more family doctors, ending the backlogs on mental health services or stopping the overwhelming of our ERs, we will be there to invest with the provinces and ensure results for Canadians,” Mr. Trudeau said. Trudeau also added that the way to ensure provincial jurisdiction is respected is by negotiating these specific bilateral deals.
The Globe and Mail reports that what Trudeau, and the federal government, expect in exchange for the billions of federal funds is that none of the money will go to non-health care spending and that the provinces and territories will not reduce their contributions to medicare. Premier Andrew Furey told CTV of Newfoundland and Labrador told CTV “I can agree to. No doubt about that.” Other premiers have expressed the same view on the provincial spending on health; that provincial governments will continue to spend, but not all leaders are unanimous in their views. Quebec Premier François Legault said he doesn’t want to see “strings attached” to any federal funding. Still, he said that he is okay with Ottawa’s demand that the provinces and territories agree to a national data-collection system. Nonetheless Legault says that Premiers are going to form a “united front.”
The premiers have been pressing for an increase to Canada Health Transfer for over two years, requesting that the federal share of funding increase to 35 percent. Currently, provinces and territories cover around 78 percent of health care funding. In their 2022-23 budgets, the provinces collectively forecast to spend around $203.7 billion on health. This fiscal year, Ottawa sent around $45.2 billion in health transfers to the provinces.
Among the views of opposing parties, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says that the government should increase health care money to cover 50 percent of health costs, which is even higher than what was requested by the provinces. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Ottawa should agree to the increase to a 35-per-cent cost share requested by the premiers, and the Conservatives are the only party that have not stated their opinions on this new money. As the talks and negotiations unfold it is uncertain whether all provincial premiers will walk away satisfied, as it is yet to be reported how the funds will be divided. It is likely not all demands will be answered by an injection of federal funds. One thing is for certain, Ottawa will increase funding for provincial healthcare to help address the resulting problems, including staff shortages, surgical backlogs, overwhelmed hospitals, and ER wait times. Though the increase in Canada Health Transfer will not alone be enough to solve the multifactorial issues that face our country’s struggling healthcare system, it is a step in the right direction.