Five provinces sign health deal but specific targets, timelines still to come
CTV
Half of Canada's provinces have now formally signed on to the new health-care deal proposed by the federal government two weeks ago.
Half of Canada's provinces have now formally signed on to the new health-care deal proposed by the federal government two weeks ago, and more will join them next week, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday.
But the "agreements in principle" now in place with Ontario and all four Atlantic provinces are just the first step to completing the $196-billion, 10-year health-care funding proposal that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made on Feb. 7.
To get the money, all five provinces must still come up with specific plans showing how they will spend it and how they will prove to Canadians that their health-care systems are getting better.
Almost one-quarter of the money -- $46 billion -- is contingent on each province or territory agreeing to Ottawa's conditions. That includes that they upgrade their health-care data systems and target some funding to primary care, mental health, recruiting and retaining workers, and dealing with surgical backlogs.
Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will now begin negotiating more specific plans. The initial targets will cover the first three years of the 10-year agreement.
Some of those plans will be unique to each jurisdiction and based on their current priorities, Trudeau said. One province could say they want 95 per cent of their residents to have access to a family doctor, while another province could say that 75 per cent would be a big improvement.
"If they choose to get 75 per cent they will have to explain to their citizens why they're accepting that one-quarter of their citizens won't have access to primary care," he said. "But we're looking for ambitious targets that are reasonable for them, that they can hit, that they can be accountable to, that will improve access to primary care in a significant way."
