The federal government is prepared to increase federal health-care transfers to the provinces by over $196 billion over the next 10 years—which includes over $46 billion in new spending, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau met with all 13 provincial and territorial premiers in Ottawa on Feb. 7 to discuss the long-awaited health-care funding deal.
The premiers had been asking for a meeting for more than two years, as COVID-19 put enormous strain on the health-care system and left provinces with thousands of backlogged surgeries, a burnt-out, understaffed health workforce, and emergency rooms that cannot keep pace with demand.
The provinces budgeted about $204 billion for health care in this fiscal year and the Canada Health Transfer was set at $45 billion, or about 22 percent of that. The premiers want the federal share to increase to 35 percent….